Airport employees in Cairo try to comfort a relative of a passenger on EgyptAir Flight 990. (AP)

By Donna Abu-Nasr
Associated Press Writer
Sunday, October 31, 1999; 2:55 p.m. EDT

CAIRO, Egypt –– In one corner of the makeshift information center, a man collapsed into a chair, wailing, "My son, my son." One woman was already planning a funeral for her sister. One man stood at the airport window, staring at the planes and crying his son's name: "Ahmed, Ahmed."

The scene was replayed over and over Sunday at Cairo International Airport, where friends and loved ones of the 214 people who disappeared that morning into the Atlantic waited for word. Some were too terrified to even check the manifest of EgyptAir Flight 990. Others demanded information that didn't yet exist.

"Please, I want to know if he's dead or still alive," begged Sobhi Mohammed, whose brother-in-law was on the plane. "If he's dead, then I know that it is the end of his life. But the officials tell me they don't know if he's dead or alive."

Doctors and nurses milled about at Terminal One, treating those who had fainted upon hearing the news that the plane had vanished off the coast of Massachusetts.

EgyptAir officials set up a table in a terminal restaurant with passenger and crew manifests and told waiting families that there could still be survivors from the crash, but many refused to entertain hope. Some collapsed. One man was given an injection. Others demanded proof.

"Maybe it's not him, maybe it's someone with a similar name," cried Samiha Ismail, who came to ask about her brother-in-law. When she heard that his name was on the list, she collapsed, wailing. "My dear brother, my dear sister. I can't believe this."

On board were 62 Egyptians – including 15 crewmembers – two Sudanese, three Syrians and one Chilean. EgyptAir chairman Mohammed Fahim Rayan said he believed many of the remaining passengers were American, although definite nationalities were unconfirmed. Among those aboard were two infants.

Walid Basil said his cousin could have been on the plane, but he didn't want to check the list because he didn't want to know. He was waiting to see if his cousin was on an incoming SwissAir flight before checking the list.

One man, who was told that his cousin's name was on the passenger manifest, started yelling profanities in Arabic about EgyptAir. "I want to see it with my own eyes," he shouted, referring to the passenger manifest.

Nearby another man collapsed and was given an injection.

The man staring out the window had collapsed upon finding a familiar name on the list. "My son, my son," he cried.

Suhair Hathout was subdued amid the shouting and wailing. She was expecting her sister and brother-in-law, who live in Ohio. "I just came here to collect them. Now it looks like I'm going to arrange for a funeral," she said.

Red-eyed airline stewards waited for news about their colleagues. Many were grasping at any sign of hope, including an early rumor started by the airport office of EgyptAir that the plane had made an unscheduled landing in London.