Bodies from EgyptAir crash recovered by Mauritian-based ship

John Lethbridge, the Mauritian-based ship, is now sailing to Alexandria, where the remains will be examined before going to Cairo for DNA analysis

Egyptian and French forensic doctors on board the vessel oversaw the body recovery process
Egyptian and French forensic doctors on board the vessel oversaw the body recovery process

A search vessel looking for the remains of victims of the EgyptAir plane that crashed into the Mediterranean in May has recovered all of the mapped bodies from the sea floor, investigators say.

The Mauritian-based ship John Lethbridge is now sailing to Alexandria in Egypt.

It will later return to the crash site to look for more bodies.

A statement by the Egyptian Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee said that the search vessel John Lethbridge "retrieved all the human remains that were mapped at the crash location".

The vessel will return to the crash location after delivering the remains in Alexandria "to conduct a new thorough scan of the seabed and to search for any [more] human remains", the committee said.

It added that Egyptian and French forensic doctors on board the vessel oversaw the body recovery process.

The remains are due to be examined by prosecutors and forensic specialists in Alexandria before going to Cairo for DNA analysis.

The flight from Paris to Cairo crashed on 19 May, killing all 66 on board. The cause of the crash remains unknown.