Air Algerie flight AH5017 crashes in Mali with 116 passengers on board
Air Algiers has confirmed that flight AH5017 which vanished earlier today has crashed in Mali.
The flight was carrying 110 passengers on board, 51 of them French nationals, and six crew.
The plane disappeared after requesting to change route because of a storm in the area said Burkina Faso transport minister Jean Bertin Ouedrago.
The airline tweeted that the flight crashed in the area of Tilemsi 70km from Gao in the south east of Mali
FLASH INFOS : AH5017 L'avion se serait crashé à Tilemsi. L'avion se serait crashé dans la région de Tilemsi, à 70km de Gao.
— Air Algérie (@Air_Algerie) July 24, 2014
The search for the flight has involved authorities from Algeria, Burkina Faso and France, with French fighter jets based in the area searching its suspected route.
A statement from Ouagadougou Airport in Burkina Faso where the flight departed from, said French forces stationed in the area detected wreckage between Gao and Kidal.
A representative of Air Algerie in Burkina Faso told a news conference earlier today that all passengers aboard the plane were in transit and travelling on to destinations in Europe, the Middle East or Canada.
In addition to French nationals, the plane was also carrying passengers from Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Algeria, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ukraine and Romania as well as the six crew who are understood to be Spanish.