Algeria confirms missing aircraft crashed in Mali

Algiers, July 25:

on Thursday confirmed that the missing flight AH 5017 of Air Algeria with 116 people on board

in Mali, media reports said.

"We can confirm that the plane crashed in Malian territory and there are rescue teams that are close to the wreck," Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra was quoted as saying by the APS news agency, according to Xinhua.

The minister made the statement at a press conference in Algiers, after the signing of the roadmap of peace negotiations between Malian government and rebel groups based in northern Mali.

Lamamra said the aircraft carried passengers from 13 different countries, including six Algerians, without giving further information.

Air Algeria had announced that the plane, MD-83, owned by the company from Spanish Swift Air, went missing 50 minutes after takeoff, en route from Burkina Faso to Algiers.

IANS