Burkina Faso Releases Air Algerie AH5017 Passenger Information
Burkina Faso has recently released information about the 110 passengers and 6 members of the crew aboard the Air Algerie AH5017, which reportedly crashed within the Malian border earlier this week.
The Inquisitr reported Thursday on a statement from both Burkina Faso and Mali authorities, confirming that the wreckage of the Algerian Flight AH5017 has been spotted in Northern Mali. Military forces from France have gone to the site of the wreckage to inspect and report on crash site. No survivors have been seen.
The wreckage was discovered after local residents of a Malian town claimed to have seen a plane go down near their area. A Burkina Faso general said that a cross-border search was allowed by Burkina’s northern neighbor to speed up the search for the missing plane.
The Algerian plane came from Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, and was supposed to arrive in Algiers. AH5017 travels the Ouagadougou-Algiers route four times a week. Twenty minutes after take-off, the pilot requested a weather-based route change, according to Burkina’s minister of transport, Jean Bertin Ouedrago. Air traffic authorities lost contact with the plane an hour after its take-off from Burkina’s capital.
An unnamed Air Algerie source told the AFP news agency:
“The plane was not far from the Algerian frontier when the crew was asked to make a detour because of poor visibility and to prevent the risk of collision with another aircraft on the Algiers-Bamako route. Contact was lost after the change of course.”
According to BBC New, Burkina Faso has already revealed essential albeit incomplete information regarding the passengers and the crew members aboard AH5017. Although names haven’t been released, the nationality count has already been provided by the country and other concerned sources. According to the Spanish pilot’s union, the crew aboard AH5017 consisted of six Spanish pilots and flight attendants.
A Burkina official confirmed that there were 27 people from Burkina Faso, 51 French, eight Lebanese, six Algerians, five Canadians, four Germans, two from Luxembourg, and one Cameroonian.
The cause of the wreckage has not yet been determined by international responders. Terrorism has been ruled out by some experts. Although northern Mali is plagued by local rebels, they lack the technology to attack an airplane 33,000 feet above the ground.
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa surrounded by other developing African nations like Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Mali to the north, where the AH5017 wreckage was discovered. As foreign respondents rush in to contribute to the investigative efforts on the wreckage, Burkina Faso continues to coordinate with the countries involved and the international press.
[Image from Doug/Flickr]
