- Jan 8, 2011
- 22,361
- Content source
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28465010
Algeria's national airline, Air Algerie, says it has lost contact with one of its planes flying from Burkina Faso to Algiers across the Sahara.
Contact was lost about 50 minutes after take-off from Ouagadougou, it said. The plane was last seen at 0155 GMT.
Flight AH 5017 had 110 passengers and six crew on board, Spanish airline Swiftair, which owns the plane, said.
The pilot had contacted Niger's control tower in Niamey to change course because of a storm, correspondents say.
Algerian and French nationals are thought to be on board.
"In keeping with procedures, Air Algerie has launched its emergency plan," Air Algerie officials, quoted by APS news agency (in French), said.
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal reportedly told Algerian radio: "The plane disappeared at Gao (in Mali), 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the Algerian border."
Find out more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28460625
BBC Live Feed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28465010
Contact was lost about 50 minutes after take-off from Ouagadougou, it said. The plane was last seen at 0155 GMT.
Flight AH 5017 had 110 passengers and six crew on board, Spanish airline Swiftair, which owns the plane, said.
The pilot had contacted Niger's control tower in Niamey to change course because of a storm, correspondents say.
Algerian and French nationals are thought to be on board.
"In keeping with procedures, Air Algerie has launched its emergency plan," Air Algerie officials, quoted by APS news agency (in French), said.
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal reportedly told Algerian radio: "The plane disappeared at Gao (in Mali), 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the Algerian border."
Find out more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28460625
BBC Live Feed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28465010
