PARIS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The missing Air Algerie plane en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina fasso to Algiers was "probably" crashed, with almost half of the 110 passengers on board French nationals, French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius said Thursday.
"Despite intensive search efforts no trace of the aircraft has yet been found. The plane probably crashed," Fabius said.
"If the disaster confirmed, it is a major tragedy that hits our nation," he added.
On twitter, the Algerian airline said "the AH5017 plane would have crashed in the region of Tilemsi, 70km from Gao (northern Mali)," while an Algerian aviation official confirmed the crash, according to media reports.
Earlier in the day, Algerian authorities said losing contact with flight AH5017 50 minutes after it took off from Burkina Faso.
According to Fabius, the Spanish MD-83 aircraft, operated by Air Algerie and carried 110 passengers and six Spanish crew, asked to change route because of a storm when it was flying over Mali.
The minister added that 51 people, representing almost half of total passengers on board, were French nationals, without giving accurate details on whether they were French expatriates in the north African country or visiting citizens.
In an attempt to locate the missing plane, two French Mirage warplanes are searching a large zone in northern Malian territory, Fabius said.
French president Francois Hollande is heading a crisis meeting on the missing plane. A statement would be issued later.
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