EgyptAir flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo believed to have crashed into the Mediterranean with 66 on board

EgyptAir flight MS804 heading from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board is believed to have crashed in the Mediterranean Sea after disappearing from radar.The Airbus A320 left the French capital's Charles De Gaulle Airport at 9.09pm GMT on Wednesday then went missing three hours and 40 minutes into its journey.

The plane vanished 10 miles into Egyptian airspace around 40 minutes before it was due to land.A captain on board a merchant ship in the Mediterranean reported seeing a 'flame in the sky'.  It was supposed touch down at 1.15am GMT. There were 56 passengers, including two babies and a child and 10 crew on the flight.

The breakdown of the nationalities on board were: 30 Egyptians, 15 French, one British, one Belgian, one Iraqi, one Kuwaiti, one Saudi Arabian, one Chadian, one Portuguese, one Algerian and one Canadian. 

The flight was the aircraft's fifth of the day, having also flown to the Eritrean capital of Asmara, the Tunisian capital Tunis and Belgium.

Egyptian officials have sent out search and rescue teams and have alerted surrounding countries. Pictured are devastated friends and relatives gathering at Cairo International Airport.