NATO Ready to Help Investigate EgyptAir Flight MS804 Disappearance

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that if there is any request for NATO assistance in investigation of the disappearance of the EgyptAir passenger plane over the Mediterranean Sea, then the bloc stands ready to help.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — NATO is ready to help investigate the disappearance of the EgyptAir passenger plane over the Mediterranean Sea if there is a request for assistance, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.

"I know that there are national search and rescue efforts ongoing, and that France and Egypt have agreed to cooperate and to work closer together investigating what happened. We will continue to monitor very closely. If there is any request for NATO assistance, then of course we stand ready to help," Stoltenberg told journalists.

Stoltenberg has extended his condolences to Egypt and France and to all those who were affected by the incident.

EgyptAir flight MS804 departed from the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris at 23:09 GMT. The aircraft was heading for Cairo International Airport. According to the airline, there were a total of 66 people on board the plane, including 56 passengers.