PARIS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- French President Francois Hollande on Saturday announced a three-day national mourning over the Air Algerie crash that killed all 118 passengers on board, including 54 French nationals.
Flags will fly at half-mast on every public building across the country from Monday for three days, Hollande said.
After meeting the family members of victims, the head of state added, "All the bodies of all victims would be brought back to France," recalling the difficult conditions of search mission at the crash site.
"It's a site of difficult access but totally secured by French and Malian military officials from a U.N. peacekeeping force (MINUSMA) to preserve the information and protect bodies," he added.
Hollande also confirmed that the second black box from the Air Algerie flight was found and would be analyzed rapidly to determine the cause of the crash.
Operated by Algerian leading flag carrier, the Spanish MD-83 aircraft carried 118 passengers of 14 different nationalities including six Spanish crew members.
It was reported missing 50 minutes, on Thursday, after it took off from Burkina Faso to Algiers.
The plane's debris was founded south of the northern Malian town of Gossi, near the Burkina Faso border.
French officials said bad weather could be the most likely cause of the air accident but stressed no theory was excluded.
BAMAKO, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Friday said his country "will do everything possible" in collaboration with France, Burkina Faso and Algeria to find circumstances that led to the crash of Air Algeria's flight AH- 5017 in northern Mali. Full story
OUAGADOUGOU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Parents of victims of Air Algeria's flight AH-5017 crash expressed anger over the manner the company was releasing information about the accident in which no one survived. Full story
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