France opens manslaughter inquiry into EgyptAir crash

27 June 2016, 7:28 pm

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French authorities opened a manslaughter inquiry Monday into the May crash of an EgyptAir plane that killed 66 people, saying there is no evidence so far to link it to terrorism.

Prosecutor’s office spokesman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre says the inquiry was launched as an accident investigation, not a terrorism investigation. She said authorities are “not at all” favoring the theory that the plane was downed deliberately, though the status of the inquiry could eventually change if evidence emerges to that effect.

Investigators decided to start the probe before waiting to analyze the plane’s flight data and voice recorders, based on evidence gathered so far, she said, without elaborating.

— AP