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THE WRECKAGE OF an Air Algerie plane missing since early Thursday with 116 people on board has been found in Mali near the Burkina Faso border, an army coordinator in Burkina Faso and the French presidency said.
“We have found the Algerian plane. The wreck has been located … 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the Burkina Faso border” in the Malian region of Gossi, said General Gilbert Diendiere of the Burkina Faso army.
“At the moment we have no further information on (the fate of) the passengers but our teams are hard at work,” he said.
Diendiere gave no indication as to what may have caused the plane to crash.
The French president’s office said Friday the jet was clearly identified even though it had “disintegrated”.
A “French military unit has been sent to (the area) to secure the site and gather evidence”, it added in a statement.
President Francois Hollande expressed his solidarity with the families and friends of the victims.
Flight AH5017, which took off from Ouagadougou bound for Algiers with 51 French nationals aboard according to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, went missing amid reports of heavy storms, company sources and officials said.
‘Emergency plan’
A controller in Mali, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the area was rocked by “strong storms” overnight.
Air Algerie, in a statement carried by national news agency APS, said it had initiated an “emergency plan” in the search for AH5017, which flies the four-hour passenger route four times a week.
In Cuba, the daughter of President Raul Castro assured journalists she was alive and well, contradicting reports that she had been onboard the doomed flight.
Mariela Castro, a sexologist and gay rights activist, said she had been told there was another passenger of the same name aboard flight AH5017.
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A sexologist!? Why wasn’t I aware of such a career filling in my CAO!???
Sexologist and cao is the first thought that comes to your mind after reading this??? Really??? What makes this plane crash less devestating than mh370/mh17 yet everyone here is having great old banter about flipping CAOs/easons/world cup/green thumbs. There are people dead!! Just the same as last Thursday, not one person saying RIP here though.
Sure aren’t we all sexologists ? Most of us freelance, some self employed.
You didnt say r.i.p.
Horrible hearing of another plane down, hopefully the deceased are returned home fast without journalists poking through peoples belongings.
RIP and deepest sympathy to all who have lost the life of a loved one. Wishing them a speedy respectful return home.
Mariela Castro. What an interesting career. Her uncle must be very proud!
Some of these comments are disgraceful.
RIP to the victims.
Colin brazier is on the way….sky news luggage correspondent
Algeria beat Russia in the World Cup.
Xbox isn’t real
Yessss !! A green thumb at last ….
What have how quick this story dies, no one could care less about the countries involved.
What do you mean ” disintegrated” ?
Pop to Easons and get yourself a dictionary!
How does one ” pop ” I’m not exactly a slice of toast.
Again, Easons!
https://www.google.ie/#q=pop+definition
Disintegrated = we think this is a bomb lads but can’t say that
Disintegrated doesn’t mean a bomb! What are you on?
If you throw an egg on the ground and it Disintegrates, does that mean you’re a terrorist?
Tal
If you have nothing useful to add would you minding popping down to easons and grabbing a coffee for me on the way back….there’s a good lad !
What do you mean ‘minding’?
More like an exorcist
Tal
Typo …. Did I tell you two sugars
Eggs!!! terrible use of the word. D I S I N T E G R A T E D – Can you use it in a sentence? Rolf Harris disintegrated the child’s innocence by continuously raping him over a number of years
RIP all the poor people who died on that plane. So horrible to hear of another plane down.
All with brand new or out of date passports. Bit odd no?
Was this flight from Ouagadougou not operated by a Spanish crew from Swiftair on a Spanish registered aircraft?
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