Cairo, June 1 (IANS): A French ship has detected signals deep under the Mediterranean Sea, believed to be from the black boxes of EgyptAir Flight MS804. The plane crashed last month, killing all 66 passengers and crew on board.

Citing a statement from Egypt's investigation committee, the Civil Aviation Ministry said the signals were received by the French vessel "Laplace", RT online reported. 

The investigation committee said in a statement that the search for the black boxes was intensified ahead of the expected arrival of a separate vessel from the Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search, which will aim to retrieve the devices. That ship was expected to arrive within a week.

Locator pings emitted by flight data and cockpit voice recorders, known as black boxes, can be detected from deep underwater.

The Airbus A320 crashed on May 19, around 170 km from the Egyptian coast in the Mediterranean sea. The plane had taken off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. 

The plane was carrying 66 persons, which comprised of 56 passengers and 10 crew members. Of the passengers, 30 were Egyptian, 15 French and two Iraqi, with one from each of Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Chad, Kuwait, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.

The search for the aircraft has been narrowed to a five-km area in the Mediterranean.