Egypt's plane "missing" until wreckage found: minister

A relative of those on the missing plane speaks to media reporters in Cairo, Egypt, May 19, 2016. The flight, an Airbus 320, disappeared from radar en route from Paris to Cairo early Thursday, the Egyptian airline confirmed. The plane, an Airbus 320, was carrying 56 passengers, three security staffers and seven crew members, the Egyptian airline said on its Twitter account. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)

CAIRO, May 19 -- Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy told a press conference Thursday that the EgyptAir passenger jet that disappeared earlier in the morning is still "missing" until its wreckage is found.

The Egyptian minister said it was too early to tell what caused the disappearance, and that the possibility of a terror activity or a technical failure cannot be ruled out.

"We have contradictory reports and it is difficult to rely on one of them without facts," Fathy said.

EgyptAir said the missing plane, an Airbus A320, disappeared from radar screens en route from Paris to Cairo Thursday at 2:45 a.m. Cairo local time (0045 GMT) with 66 people aboard, including 30 Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis and one each from Algeria, Belgium, Portugal, Britain, Canada, Chad, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.