Paris/Cairo (dpa) – Smoke was detected on the doomed Egyptair plane shortly before it crashed over the Mediterranean Sea, the French air accident investigation agency BEA said on Saturday.

But the agency cautioned that no conclusion could yet be drawn as to what caused Egyptair Flight MS804 to crash on Thursday with 66 people on board.

The BEA spokeswoman told dpa that smoke was detected in a forward lavatory, according to the information sent via ACARS, or Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, which transmits short condition updates to ground stations by radio or via satellite.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said reports of a smoke alarm onboard the Airbus A320 did not provide any concrete clues as to whether a technical error or terrorism brought down the plane.

The investigations would carry on in all possible directions, and no possibility would be ruled out, he added.

An official in the Egypt-led investigation commission denied the report of lavatory smoke to dpa.