PARIS, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The wreckage of an Air Algerie airliner with 116 people onboard has been found in Mali near its border with Burkina Faso, the French presidential office said on Friday.
The MD-83 plane was clearly identified although it had "disintegrated," the Elysee said in a statement.
"A French military unit has been sent to secure the site and gather evidence," the statement added.
The AH5017 flight, which carried 110 passengers and six Spanish crew, disappeared from the radar screen 50 minutes after it took off from Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, en route to Algiers. Among the passengers, 51 were French nationals.
Earlier in the day, Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra confirmed that the ill-fated passenger plane had crashed in neighboring Mali.
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ALGIERS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Algeria Thursday confirmed that the missing flight AH 5017 of Air Algeria with 116 people on board crashed in Mali, local media reported.
"We can confirm that the plane crashed in Malian territory and there are rescue teams that are close to the wreck," APS news agency cited Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra as saying.Full Story
Wrecks of missing Algerian airliner found in Mali
ALGIERS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Wrecks of an Air Algerie flight that went missing earlier on Thursday with 116 people onboard has been found in Mali, the state-run APS news agency said on Thursday evening.
"We've come to know that local residents in the desert area of Goussy in Mali have seen probably wreckage of the missing plane," Algerian Transport Minister Amar Ghoul said at a press conference at the Algiers' airport, but the information is "still to be confirmed."Full Story
France, Algeria start search for missing passenger plane: source
ALGIERS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- French Air Force units on stand-by in Mali and the Algerian Air Force have launched a joint search operation for an Algerian passenger plane that went missing early Thursday over northern Mali, a security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.Full Story
Many French passengers on board missing Air Algerie plane: minister
PARIS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- French Transport Minister Frederic Cuvilier on Thursday said "likely many" French passengers were on board of Air Algerie flight which reported missing.
Speaking to the news channel BFMTV, the minister announced "likely many French passengers were on board. We opened a crisis centre."Full story
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