Algerian authorities have confirmed the crash of Flight AHO517 which went missing from the radar earlier on Thursday. According to Air Algerie, the flight crashed about 40 miles from Gao in Mali.
Though the airline did not state the cause of the crash as of the time of filing the report, there had been some media reports that the aircraft was asked to make a detour because of poor visibility and also to prevent a collision with another aircraft on the Bamako-Algiers route.
Troops serving with the United Nations have opined that the plane came down at Tilemsi, which is between Gao and Tessalit.
50 of the more than 100 passengers on board were French citizens. It also had 24 Burkinabes, 8 Lebanese, 6 Algerians, 5 Canadians, and 4 Germans on board. The 6 crew members were from Spain.
