阿航载116人客机坠毁 曾为躲沙暴改变航线

阿尔及利亚航空公司24日说，这家航空公司原定从西非国家布基纳法索首都瓦加杜古飞往阿尔及利亚首都阿尔及尔的AH5017航班在起飞后不久失联。路透社以一名不愿公开姓名的阿尔及利亚民航官员为消息源报道，这架客机已经坠毁。

阿尔及利亚航空公司驻布基纳法索代表特尔基说，根据初步掌握的乘客名单，失联客机上约有50名法国人、24名布基纳法索人、8名黎巴嫩人、两名卢森堡人，以及来自比利时、瑞士、尼日利亚、喀麦隆、乌克兰和罗马尼亚的乘客各一人。

阿尔及利亚航空公司一名消息人士称，客机曾被要求改变航线，以躲避沙暴。“当客机距离阿尔及利亚边界不远时，机组人员被要求绕道飞行，原因是能见度较差，也为避免与另一架客机相撞”。这名消息人士称，“在改变航线后，客机失去联系。”
 
Algeria airliner feared crashed on flight from Burkina Faso

There's been another potentially-deadly plane crash, this time in northwest Africa.

A passenger plane carrying 116 people has gone down on a flight from Burkina Faso to the Algerian capital Algiers.

The details from CRI's Qi Zhi.

Reporter:

Contact with Air Algerie Flight AH 5017 was lost less than an hour after take-off from Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou.

The President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Kéita, says the plane's wreckage has been spotted in the northern part of the country, in the border zone between Mali and Algeria.

Its unknown at this time if there are any survivors.

The MD-83 is a private charter belonging to Spanish airline Swiftair.

Over half of those onboard are French nationals, as well as passengers from up to 14 countries including Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Algeria, Canada and Germany.

The six crew members are Spanish.

There are few indications of what may have happened to the plane.

Burkina Faso's military Chief of Staff is Gilbert Diedjire.

"The plane expressly asked to change itinerary because of the bad weather. That may be a reason. Now there may be other hypotheses, linked to other conditions, but we cannot, at this time, venture in that direction."

French President Francois Hollande has cancelled a planned overseas trip.

He says all French military means on the ground in Mali will be used to locate the aircraft.

"We cannot establish the causes of what happened, we will have to. We will find out the truth of everything that happened. Until then, all our capabilities will be mobilized in order to find this plane and in order to provide families with information they are asking for."

French forces are located in the area wher the plane has gone down.

They've been there since last year, after France led an international coalition to oust al-Qaeda-linked rebel fighters from control of northern Mali.

However, reaching the crash site is going to be complex task, as the area is vast, with few roads, and the threat of rebel attacks still exist.

For CRI, I'm Qi Zhi.