The government said two Canadian citizens were among passengers on the downed EgyptAir Flight MS804 that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea early Thursday.
In a statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion said “based on the information currently available, we confirm that two Canadian citizens are among the passengers on this flight.”
“We are providing consular assistance to the families and Canadian officials are working closely with the authorities to confirm whether there were any additional Canadian citizens on board,” the minister said in the statement.
Global Affairs Canada did not release the names or hometowns of the Canadian citizens.
However, EgyptAir confirmed to Global News Marwa Hamdy was a Canadian passenger on board the flight. The airline did not provide the passenger’s age or hometown. EgyptAir said there was only one Canadian on the passenger manifest.
The flight from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar early Thursday morning, carrying 10 crew members and 56 passengers, and presumably crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.
READ MORE: Terrorism likely cause of downed jet, officials say
Citing an informed source, EgyptAir said it had lost communication with radar tracking of the A320 Airbus. The flight was at a height of 37,000 feet and disappeared after entering Egyptian airspace, the company said in a statement. The flight vanished within 16 kilometres of entering Egyptian airspace.
Earlier on Thursday, EgyptAir said 56 passengers and 10 cabin crew members were onboard the aircraft. Among the passengers are: 15 French nationals, 30 Egyptians, 1 Briton, 1 Belgian, 2 Iraqis, 1 Kuwaiti, 1 Saudi, 1 Sudanese, 1 Chadian, 1 Portuguese, 1 Algerian and 1 Canadian.
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Egypt PM says no cause ruled out for EgyptAir crash
Around 12:30 p.m. Egyptian time French President Francois Hollande confirmed the plane had crashed saying no hypothesis has been ruled out.
“When we have the truth we need to draw all the conclusions,” Hollande said. “At this stage, we must give priority to solidarity toward the families” of the victims.
Citing Greece’s defence minister, the Associated Press reported the flight made abrupt turns and suddenly dropped in altitude before disappearing from radar.
“It turned 90 degrees left and then a 360-degree turn toward the right, dropping from 38,000 to 15,000 feet and then it was lost at about 10,000 feet,” the news agency quoted Panos Kammenos as saying.
READ MORE: Timeline of EgyptAir Flight MS804 crash
Speaking at a press conference, Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi said he doesn’t believe the plane’s disappearance was a result of a “technical failure.”
“The situation may point, and I say ‘may’ because I don’t want to go to speculations, I don’t want to go to assumptions like others,” Fathi said. “But, if you analyze the situation properly, the possibility of having a different action, having a terror attack is higher than the possibility than having a technical failure.”
WATCH: Relatives of missing EgyptAir passengers desperate for answers
As of Thursday evening, no sign of the plane had been found.
An earlier statement, issued by EgyptAir, that claimed a possible wreckage off the Greek island of Crete was later retracted.
“We stand corrected,” airline vice-president Ahmed Adel told CNN. It “is not our aircraft”.
“EgyptAir sincerely conveys its deepest sorrow to the families and friends of the passengers onboard Flight MS804,” the airline said.
“Family members of passengers and crew have been already informed and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected.”
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