A UK coroner has rejected an Egyptian report saying an explosion caused a plane crash in 2016.
EgyptAir flight MS804 vanished over the Mediterranean in May of that year, killing all 66 on board.
The Egyptian investigator suggested that there had been a deliberate explosion on the aircraft.
However, nine years after the Airbus A320 crashed, an inquest into the death of passenger Richard Osman, who grew up in Carmarthen, Wales, has heard it was due to a fire on board.
Mr Osman, a 40-year-old geologist, had been travelling from Paris to Cairo when the plane crashed after entering Greek air space.
Mark Layton, the coroner for Carmarthenshire, said the inquest had been significantly delayed while they waited for all the evidence to be presented.
He said two conflicting explanations for the cause of the crash had been put forward by the French and Egyptian investigators.
He agreed with a British expert who believed a fire had broken out on board, possibly fuelled by a leak at an oxygen mask in the cockpit.
The inquest heard the fire would have spread rapidly throughout the flight deck, meaning the aircraft could not be controlled, resulting in the crash.
British aviation expert Ken Fairbank sided with the French report, which said a fire in the cockpit was the likely cause.
Mr Layton said the Egyptian report concluded the probable cause was “a detonation of an explosive device secreted in the forward galley, which resulted in fire and smoke that severely affected the aircraft and flight crew”.
Mr Fairbank said: “Despite the discovery of traces of explosives found on some of the wreckage and victims’ remains, the weight of evidence is not, in my view, consistent with the published scenario in which an explosive device triggered the accident.”
He said traces of explosives, possibly TNT, “cannot be ignored”, but the results had been “challenged” by the French authorities, who were not able to get them independently verified.
“I believe the fire most likely started adjacent to the first officer’s position on the right side of the flight deck,” he said.
Mr Fairbank said a hiss and a pop could be heard on a black box recording from the cockpit, but there was no sound of an explosion, and people were heard saying “fire”.
Mr Layton said he “fully accepts” Mr Fairbank’s conclusion.
Recording a narrative conclusion, he said: “Richard Osman was a passenger of a commercial flight MS804, travelling from Paris to Cairo, which crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on May 19, 2016.
This happened “following a fire on board caused by an ignition source of unknown origin, most likely associated with the first officer’s oxygen supply system, which either resulted from, or was fed by, an oxygen leak”.
Mr Layton said he would be writing a “prevention of future deaths report” to look at ways to ensure the tragedy was not repeated in the future.
Mr Osman’s widow, Aurelie Vandeputte, with whom he had two children, described him as “loved and appreciated” by his family, friends and colleagues.
In a statement, she said the nine years since his death had been “excruciating”, with years of “chaos and disrespect of the victims’ bodies, their families’ emotions, absence of information, false leaks and speculations”.
Peter Neenan, the family’s solicitor, said it had been a “travesty” that so long had passed since the accident without the Egyptian authorities issuing a final report or interim statement.
He said: “The suffering that the investigators needlessly inflicted on Aurelie and her family, as well as the families of the 65 others on board is unforgivable.”
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UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
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Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
Company profile
Name: The Concept
Founders: Yadhushan Mahendran, Maria Sobh and Muhammad Rijal
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 7
Sector: Aviation and space industry
Funding: $250,000
Future plans: Looking to raise $1 million investment to boost expansion and develop new products
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
THE SPECS
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Engine: 1.8 litre combined with 16-volt electric motors
Transmission: Automatic with manual shifting mode
Power: 121hp
Torque: 142Nm
Price: Dh95,900
FIGHT%20CARD
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Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)
Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15
Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)
Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49
