Egyptian authorities denied evidence of an explosion aboard doomed EgyptAir flight MS804 Tuesday, despite investigators citing ample evidence of just that hours earlier. 

“Everything published about this matter is completely false,” Forensic Medicine Authority head Hisham Abdul Hamid stated to the press Tuesday afternoon. 

Earlier, an anonymous investigator told the Associated Press that an explosion was evident, based on the pulverization of human remains at the debris site. 

The Airbus A320 carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew and security officers disappeared over the Mediterranean as it flew from Paris to Cairo. It was flying at 37,000ft when it disappeared from the radar at 2:29 a.m.

International air and naval teams discovered debris of the plane Friday, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Alexandria. Among the wreckage were personal belongings of passengers and crew. 

Speculation remains high that the crash was the result of terrorism, based on previous threats to the plane, the proximity of hundreds of maintenance workers to the plane at four high-risk airports in the 48 hours before the crash, and an odd trajectory recorded on the flight – as well as the lack of emergency warnings before the plane was spotted with a flash and a fireball.