An Air Algerie flight that went missing en route from Burkina Faso to Algiers with 116 people on board including 50 French nationals has crashed in Sahara desert. Among those aboard were Mariela Castro, the 51-year-old daughter of Cuban president Raul Castro and niece of former leader Fidel Castro.
Air navigation services lost track of the Swiftair MD-83 around 50 minutes into the flight after the crew reportedly asked to change course due to a storm. The plane, which is operated by Air Algerie, was last picked up on radar at 1.55am GMT and should have landed in the Algerian capital around three hours later.
Wreckage of the plane has reportedly been spotted by French fighter jets in the Saharan sand in Mali. It comes after a treacherous week for the aviation industry in which 298 people were killed when Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane was shot down over Ukraine and 48 people died in a crash in Taiwan. Airlines have also cancelled flights into Tel Aviv due to the conflict in Gaza.
The list of passengers includes 51 French, 27 Burkina Faso nationals, eight Lebanese, six Algerians and five Canadians.There were also four Germans, two Luxemburg nationals, one Swiss, one Belgium, one Egyptian, one Ukrainian, one Nigerian, one Cameroonian and one Malian, Burkina Faso Transport Minister Jean Bertin Ouedraogo said. Ms Castro is a prominent gay rights advocate and Aids prevention activist. She is married with three children.
The six crew members are Spanish, according to the Spanish pilots’ union.