Tuesday, Aug 23, 2016

Cairo: An EgyptAir flight to Paris was delayed for two hours in Cairo on Tuesday due to a bomb scare, a senior official at the national carrier said.

“The company asked Cairo Airport authorities to check the plane after a suspicious briefcase was found inside it before take-off,” EgyptAir head Safwat Musallam said in press remarks.

“The briefcase, the plane and passengers were checked and nothing was found,” he said.

The plane was cleared and allowed to depart after two hours behind schedule.

Egypt has tightened security measures at its airports since October last year when a Russian aircraft crashed in Sinai, killing all 224 people on board. Terrorist Daesh claimed it had downed the plane with a bomb planted inside it.

In May, an EgyptAir plane plunged into the Mediterranean Sea while en route from Paris to Cairo. All the 66 people aboard were killed.

Data from the flight’s black box suggested fire inside the plane shortly before its crash.

Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent

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