PARIS, Aug. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The Venezuelan authorities have handed over the black boxes from the Colombian plane which crashedlast week, killing 160 people, to France's Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA), French Transport Ministry announced Wednesday in a statement.

    The BEA said it has begun its work on the black boxes -- the flight data and cockpit voice recorders -- and have confirmed thatthe instruments were functioning right up to the moment of the crash and are capable of yielding their information.

    "After that, the data has to be recovered and translated into aform that can be used for the investigation," it said.

    "Venezuela's decision is a sign of friendship towards France which has just gone through the biggest air disaster of its history," said the French Transport Minister Dominique Perben.

    French President Jacques Chirac arrrived in the French Caribbean island of Martinique on Wednesday to attend a memorial ceremony for the 152 French residents of the island who died in the crash. Eight Colombian crew members were also killed in the accident. Enditem