Disaster over Mali

On Thursday, July 24, the Air Algerie passenger plane crashed in the northern part of Mali. According to AFP, less than an hour after taking off from the capital of Burkina-Faso Uagaduga, the connection with the plane was lost, it disappeared from all the radars.

On board were 110 passengers and 6 crew members. In the evening on the same day it was announced that the plane crash occurred near the border between Burkina-Faso and Mali. “We found an Algerian plane. The fragments were 50 km north of the border from Burkina-Faso, ”AFP quoted General Gilbert Dieendier, a representative from Burkina-Faso.

It is reported that all passengers of the aircraft died. “There can be no survivors. The plane disappeared during the flight, and this suggests that the crew did not have the opportunity to report on the disaster, that is, everything happened extremely quickly, ”explained the French expert in the field of civil aviation, former aircraft commander Jean Serra on the air of the BFMTV television channel.

“The plane disappeared into GAO (in the eastern part of Mali), 500 km from the Algerian border,” said Algeria Prime Minister Abdelmalllek Sellal. According to another source of the agency, “the plane was near the border with Algeria, when its crew was asked to change the course due to poor visibility in order to avoid the risk of a clash with another aircraft that made the Algerian-Bamako flight.”

In Algeria, a crisis center has already been created to investigate the circumstances of the disappearance of the aircraft. The Ministry of Defense does not exclude the version of the terrorist attack, and a thunderstorm storm could also be the reason . The latest pilot message was a request to the dispatchers in Niger about changing the route due to bad weather conditions and heavy rain. This was announced by the Associated Press Minister of Transport Burkina-Faso Jean Berthen Wedraogo.

On board there were 116 people from 15 countries, including 80 citizens of France. According to reports , there were 26 subjects of Burkina-Faso, six Algerians, at least 20 Lebanese, as well as citizens of Canada, Ukraine, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain and other countries. Information about the possible finding of Russians on board this aircraft was not confirmed . As Foreign Minister Lauren Fabius told reporters, "this will be a huge tragedy that struck our people and many others."

Immediately after the information about the crash of the aircraft, there were reports that the daughter of the chairman of the State Council of Cuba Raul Castro and the niece of the leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro Mariel were on board. The head of Cuba condemned the work of the media, calling her “media show” around unverified information. Mariela Castro herself denied rumors: “I find it terrifying that the news really shocking and sad for world public opinion does not travel around the world as quickly as such untruthful news,” she said , commenting on rumors about her death.

The crashed plane was insured, it belonged to the Spanish leasing company Swiftair, which leased it for Airalgerie. The search for fragments was engaged in French fighters, UN peacekeepers and other structures. “With the permission of the Mali government, we sent people in search of, and with the help of local residents they managed to find the wreckage of a fallen aircraft,” said General Gilbert Dieenser, who was headed by the crisis committee to identify the causes of a crash. “They found the remains of passengers and the wreckage of the aircraft, completely burned down and scattered,” the general shared information. Rescuers were sent to this area after one of the witnesses said that he had seen the fall of the aircraft.

The missing Algerian aircraft plane was tested this week in France. His condition was recognized as good, said Patrician Gandil, General Director of the Main Civil Aviation Department (DGAC). “We know this plane. He was in France, in Marseille, two or three days ago. We conducted his check and found almost nothing, he was really in good condition, ” said Gandil. The versions of a malfunction or unsatisfactory technical condition of the aircraft as the causes of the plane crash have not yet been put forward.