'There is no complete body. Only parts. They are unrecognisable': First MS804 victim remains are returned to Cairo so they can be identified from families' DNA

Remains of the first EgyptAir MS804 victims were today described as 'unrecognisable' as they were taken to Cairo to start the long and painful process of identifying the bodies.

More than 20 body bags containing parts of corpses recovered from the Mediterranean crash site were brought to the Zenhom morgue by the Egyptian Army at midnight last night.

Close family members began arriving at the morgue this morning after being invited to give DNA samples to aid their identification.

A forensic source said: 'There is no complete body. There are only body parts. They are unrecognisable.

'But it is important for the families to be able to bury their loved-ones and to be able to visit their grave to help with the mourning process.' 

Scroll down for video 

Relatives of the Christian victims of EgyptAir flight MS804 weep during an absentee funeral mass at the main Cathedral in Cairo on Sunday. Remains of the first victims were today described as 'unrecognisable' as they were taken to Cairo to start the long and painful process of identifying the bodies

A Coptic Christian grieves during prayers for victims of Thursday's crash EgyptAir crash at the Al-Boutrossiya Church, the main Coptic Cathedral complex, in Cairo, Egypt on Sunday

Coptic Christians attend prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of Thursday's crash of EgyptAir flight 804, at Al-Boutrossiya Church, the main Coptic Cathedral complex, in Cairo, Egypt

Dr Sham Abdel-Hamid, head of the Egyptian Forensic Medicine Authority, said: 'The authorities started taking blood samples from relatives to match results from body parts to identify the victims.' 

It comes as hundreds of mourners attended memorial services over the weekend for some of the 66 victims of the EgyptAir plane which mysteriously crashed into the Mediterranean on Thursday.

In Cairo, a service was held yesterday for nine Coptic Christians who died, including 26-year-old flight attendant Yara Tawfik.

The service took place in the Boutrossiya Church inside Cairo's St Mark Cathedral, the seat of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church.

Relatives sobbed and prayed as Bishop Daniel, the senior cleric who led the service, offered words of comfort on behalf of Pope Tawadros II, leader of the Coptic church.

He said: 'The church, the pope, the state and its representatives are very moved by this painful incident and are all standing together in offering their condolences to these families.

'They've ascended to heaven.' 

Coptic Christians attend prayers for victims of EgyptAir flight 804 at the Al-Boutrossiya Church in the main Coptic Cathedral complex in Cairo on Sunday

A woman grieves during the emotional vigil held in Cairo today to remember the victims of the crash. It is not yet clear what caused the fire, but a terrorist plot is among the possibilities looking highly likely

Portraits of Medhat Michel (left) and Waguih Mourise (right) are displayed during the church service in Cairo

Nader Medhat, a cousin of Tawfik, said he was still trying to come to terms with the disaster. 

A service was also held on Saturday in a Cairo mosque for co-pilot Mohamed Mamdouh, 25, another of the 30 Egyptians among the dead.

'The funeral service was so packed with people there was no place for anyone to stand,' said Ahmed Amin, Mamdouh's childhood friend. 'It was really heartwarming.'

The mystery of the EgyptAir crash deepened yesterday amid the pilot spoke about 'an emergency descent' aimed at putting out a fire on board.

It was initially claimed Mohamed Said Ali Ali Shoukair lost all radio contact before the Airbus A320 plunged into the sea last Thursday, killing all 66 people on board, en route from Paris to Cairo.

But aviation sources in Paris have now said he contacted Egyptian air traffic controllers to say he was going to make an emergency landing because there smoke filling the plane.

There was 'conversation several minutes long' between Captain Shoukair and the controllers, which amounted to 'a distress call', according to French TV station M6.

However, the claims were last night denied by EgyptAir. A spokesman said: 'Claims made by the French TV station are not true. The pilot did not contact Egypt air control before the incident.' 

M6, the French TV channel, reported that the pilot then initiated a 'rapid descent' aimed at putting out the fire on board, and clearing the smoke.

The plane's twisted blue metal panelling, marked with EgyptAir branding as well as items of clothing and yellow life jackets, has been recovered from the Mediterranean Sea

Rapid descents involve dramatic changes in cabin air pressure, and can be extremely dangerous, but the claims about the flight's last moments fit in with earlier information.

According to Greece's defence minister, Pano Kammenos, the plane dropped sharply from 37,000 feet to 15,000 feet, and then made 'sudden swerves'.

As it entered Egyptian airspace, over the Greek island of Karpathos, the first turn was a sharp, 90-degree one to the east, and then there was a full circular loop.

A leaked data report also suggests that a fire blazed across the flight deck minutes before disaster -suggesting a catastrophic electronics malfunction. 

The new information made terrorism seem 'less likely', although it has still not been ruled out.

Egypt president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi broke his silence on the crash yesterday, saying a submarine would be used to find the jet's 'black box' data and voice recorders, which emit a locator signal for only a month before batteries run out.

He said 'all scenarios are possible'. 

The cause of the crash that killed all 66 on board remains unclear but smoke alarms were sounding for almost three minutes before it began its rapid descent, according to data

Find: The discovery of the black box could provide vital clue into what caused the passenger jet to crash on its journey from Paris to Cairo

Details of the jet's final three minutes were revealed yesterday via a flurry of automatic electronic messages showing a rapid loss of control. 

Smoke was recorded in a toilet behind the cockpit and in a bay of computers controlling the plane. 

A fixed cockpit window then opened and the flight control unit cut out.

Some experts said the rapid series of alarms hinted at a bomb but others suggested faulty wiring could be to blame. 

Philip Butterworth-Hayes, a British aviation specialist, said: 'It is physically possible there was a technical issue. If it began in the toilet, it could be a suicide bomber.' 

On Friday, authorities released an audio recording of Captain Shoukair's words to Swiss air traffic control, from around an hour into the planned four-hour flight.

The communication occurred around midnight local Swiss time, about two-and-a-half hours before Greek air traffic controllers in Athens lost contact. 

The exchange suggests those on the plane had no notion at that time of what was to happen later.

The pilot was 'in good spirits and thanked the controller in Greek,' according to the Greek civil aviation authority.   

The mystery of the EgyptAir jet crash deepened today following claims that its pilot Mohamed Said Shoukair spoke about 'an emergency descent' aimed at putting out a fire

It was initially claimed that Mohamed Said Shoukair lost all radio contact before the Airbus A320 plunged into the sea last Thursday, with the loss of 66 lives, while travelling from Paris to Cairo

But transmissions from the aircraft in the minutes before it was lost reveal that smoke was detected underneath the cockpit and in a toilet. 

These messages were sent to ground computers before the airliner plunged from the sky, killing ten crew and 56 passengers, including one Briton.

The hunt is now on for the plane's black boxes - the flight data and cockpit voice recorders that could unlock the mystery.

French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said 'all theories are being examined and none is favoured'.

But Simon Hradecky, editor of the highly respected website Aviation Herald, said available data suggested an electrical fault on the jet was more likely than a terrorist attack.  

Mr Hradecky speculated that the plane's oxygen supply could have been breached, causing the fire to spread more quickly, filling the cabin with smoke.  

This, he said, is similar to what happened in 2011 when a fire started near the first officer's oxygen mask on an EgyptAir Boeing 777 during a fire at Cairo airport.

'If the oxygen bottle that feeds the oxygen masks of the pilots ruptures and feeds the fire, then we could have such a rapid development that the fire becomes catastrophic within three minutes.'

The Airbus A320 aircraft made a 90-degree turn left, and then dropped from 37,000ft to 15,000ft before swerving 360 degrees right. Contact was lost at 10,000ft. 

It is believed that passengers and crew may have been alive until the plane plunged into the sea. 

Philip Baum, the editor of Aviation Security International Magazine, was also leaning towards the fire theory last night.

He said: 'There was smoke reported in the aircraft lavatory, then smoke in the avionics bay, and over a period of three minutes the aircraft's systems shut down, so that's starting to indicate it probably wasn't a hijack.

David Learmount, consulting editor at Flightglobal magazine, said: 'The question now is whether the fire that caused the smoke was the result of an electrical fault – or whether some form of explosive or incendiary device was used.' 

Details of Flight 804's final moments emerged as human remains and personal belongings were over the weekend recovered by search vessels from some of the victims who died.

The Egyptian military released images of some items found, including life vests, parts of seats and objects clearly marked EgyptAir.

Debris was found 180 miles north of the port of Alexandria by the Egyptian navy. The spot is south of where the Airbus vanished from radar signals. 

Data indicates the plane was on fire before it plummeted into the Mediterranean. An ACARS screen grab (above) shows smoke alarms in the lavatory behind the cockpit sounded at 00.26GMT, three minutes before the plane lost contact

A video image released by the Egyptian Defense Ministry shows a ship during the search in the Mediterranean Sea which crashed while carrying 66 people