Investigators examining the crash of EgyptAir flight MS804 earlier this year have found traces of explosive on victims of the disaster.

As a result, a criminal investigation would now begin into the crash of the Airbus A320, the Egyptian civil aviation ministry said.

The plane was travelling from Paris to Cairo plunged into the sea on May 19th with the loss of all 66 people on board.

The cause of the crash has remained unclear.

No distress call was made beforehand the crash.

However, the cockpit voice recorder revealed the pilots had fought to put out a fire.

Automated electronic messages sent out by the plane also revealed smoke detectors had gone off in a toilet and in the avionics area below the cockpit.

Although there were fears that an act of terrorism might have brought the plane down, no group has said it targeted the plane.

On board were 40 Egyptians, including the ten-member crew, and 15 French nationals.