EgyptAir flight MS804 crash: British victim Richard Osman described as a 'very admirable person'

'He's a new dad. A dad for the second time now and I know that would have filled him with love and joy. It's funny how quickly things change.'

Families and friends of the victims of the missing EgyptAir flight MS804 hold an absentee funeral prayer in a mosque nearby Cairo airport, Cairo, Egypt, 20 May 2016 (EPA)

The brother of Richard Osman, a qualified geologist and father of two feared dead after an EgyptAir plane crashed into the Mediterranean, has said Mr Osman was a "very admirable person".

Alastair Osman told ITV News: "Richard has two kids. Richard was a very kind person, loving person, very focused. He was a workaholic and never deviated from the straight path.

"A very admirable person and a lot of people admired him for his strength and values. He's a new dad. A dad for the second time now and I know that would have filled him with love and joy. It's funny how quickly things change."

Mr Osman, 40, is believed to be one of the 56 passengers on board the flight from Paris to Cairo.

Egyptian and Greek authorities in ships and planes searched the suspected crash area throughout the day for traces of the airliner or its victims, with more help on the way from the US, Britain and France.

Civil aviation minister Sherif Fathi said the disaster was still being investigated but the possibility it was a terror attack ”is higher than the possibility of having a technical failure“.

Asked about why Mr Osman was on the flight, his brother told the news programme: ”He would have been going to work I assume. I know he works in both Egypt and another country in Africa.

“I guess it was work related. He's been doing this for years in the gold mining industry. This was a regular trip. He used to do it at least once a month, year after year.”

Alastair Osman, who said the family of four were all born in Carmarthen, Wales, added: “This is the reality of Isis and groups like that. It's indiscriminate. They don't think any of these people have family members, or a past, or a history of hopes and dreams. It's indiscriminate.”

According to the Carmarthen Journal, Mr Osman is 40 and a former pupil at QE Cambria with family in the Swansea area.

The newspaper said he was the son of the late Fekri Osman, a founder of the Werndale private hospital in Bancyfelin.

His father moved to Wales from his native Egypt to work as a consultant in ear, nose and throat surgery in Singleton Hospital, Swansea, it said.

Alastair said that he knows nothing is concluded as of yet, but added, “it doesn't look good”.

He said other family members are still holding out and are advising others not to listen to the media too much due to conflicting evidence.

“Time is the only thing that will get us closer to the truth,” he said.