Egypt Slams ‘Disrespectful’ CNN Coverage of EgyptAir Tragedy

The spokesman of Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Abu Zeid, slammed CNN’s coverage of EgyptAir flight MS804’s crash.

In a message on Twitter, the spokesman said that CNN’s theories that the airplane crashed as a result of pilot suicide were disrespectful.

“It’s disrespectful that @ CNN insinuates pilot suicide in # EgyptairMS804 tragedy while families are mourning,” read the tweet which was retweeted hundreds of times.

It’s disrespectful that @CNN insinuates pilot suicide in #EgyptairMS804 tragedy while families are mourning. — Egypt MFA Spokesman (@MfaEgypt) May 20, 2016

Since the spokesman’s statement, Egyptian social media users openly criticized CNN and other news outlets for the ‘insensitive’ theories.

Regarding #Egypt ‘s foreign ministry spokesman criticising @CNN , this was reported by LA Times quoting US invest pic.twitter.com/poxhgRDMWx — Menna منّة (@TheMiinz) May 20, 2016

On Twitter and Facebook, one screenshot of an article by the Los Angeles Times is being widely circulated. The article states that among the possible theories is that a “pilot may have tried to commit suicide by intentionally crashing the plane, the cause of several crashes in the past.”

Shame on @CNN for insinuating pilot suicide in #EgyptAir crash #MS804 what kind of informed reporting is this. — Moustafa Mowaffak (@mmowaffak) May 20, 2016

How com @CNN say that pilot is suicide and There is no evidence also without respect family of pilot and there feeling #MS804 #EgyptAir — في الكون وحيد (@amrhamdon) May 20, 2016

Mohammad Mamdouh Assem dreamed of becoming a pilot since he was 5. Nothing points in direction of suicide. #MS804 https://t.co/bfLKuOylfN — Ruth Vandewalle (@ruthruthcairo) May 20, 2016

Theories that the EgyptAir pilot intentionally crashed the plane contradict the latest information that smoke was detected in one of the aircraft’s toilets minutes before it disappeared.

According to data published by air industry website Aviation Herald, the information shows that smoke was first reported in the aircraft’s lavatory before the aircraft’s system shut down, preventing the pilots from sending any distress signals.

Egypt, France and Greece, responding to rumours and assumptions, have officially announced that it is too early to determine the cause of the airplane’s crash.

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