PETER KING, Cairo | Sunday 10.00pm.
CAIRO airport echoed with the screams of hysteria and horror on Sunday as distraught relatives learned their loved ones were aboard EgyptAir Flight 990, which crashed off the US coast with all 214 aboard feared dead.
Several people collapsed unconscious and many were given oxygen by doctors as airline officials brought the terrifying hours-long wait to an end with a final list of passengers aboard the doomed Boeing 767.
For many it was confirmation of their worst fears, which had built up through the day as hope struggled with reason while details emerged — of debris found and a body seen — of what could be one of the worst air catastrophes this decade.
Staff of the Egyptian state airline ushered friends and relatives into a special lounge to inform them of the names of the 214 passengers and crew on the plane, which plummeted to the ocean shortly after take-off from New York.
Some 129 US nationals and 62 Egyptians were said to be among those aboard the EgyptAir Boeing 767. — AFP