Algeria suffered its deadliest ever air catastrophe on Wednesday (Apr 11) when a military plane crashed after takeoff, killing 257 people on board, mostly army personnel and their family members. Algerian soldiers watch the military plane after it crashed in Boufarik, near the Algerian capital, Algiers on Apr 11, 2018. (Photo source: AP/Anis Belghoul) An AFP photographer at the scene saw the charred wreckage of the plane after it caught fire in a field near the Boufarik airbase, 30 kilometres south of Algiers. Hundreds of ambulances and dozens of fire trucks with sirens wailing rushed to the scene of the crash, in an uninhabited area where one person was injured on the ground by debris. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and security forces set up a cordon to prevent journalists and onlookers from approaching. Witnesses who had been working in nearby fields told AFP that the plane had burst into flames before it hit the ground. The defence ministry said in a statement that … [Read more...] about 257 dead as military plane crashes in Algeria’s worst air disaster
Air disasters
Rescuers recover first bodies, debris from Air France jet
Brazil’s search crews have found the first bodies and debris from the Air France Flight 447 that crashed in the Atlantic while investigators said the same type of jets were found to have faulty speed readings. Brazilian air force members search for the crashed Air France jet (afp photo) Naval ships on Saturday retrieved two dead men and debris including a blue seat with a serial number matching the flight, a rucksack containing a vaccination card, and a briefcase with an Air France ticket inside, according to rescue officials. "At 8:14am this morning, we confirmed the rescue from the water of bodies and pieces belonging to the Air France flight," air force spokesman Jorge Amaral said in the Brazilian city of Recife. Brazilian naval ships and air force planes have been combing an area of the Atlantic about 1,100 km northeast of Brazil's coast since the Airbus A330-200 plane en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared on Monday with 228 people on board. The crash was … [Read more...] about Rescuers recover first bodies, debris from Air France jet
Families mourn victims of Air Algerie crash in Mali
Family members of those killed on the Air Algerie flight that crashed in Mali were taken to the wreckage to grieve on Saturday as French President Francois Hollande announced three days of mourning. Hollande ordered that flags on government buildings across France fly at half-mast for three days from Monday after the death of 118 people including 54 French nationals in the crash. Hollande, who met with relatives of victims for three hours on Saturday afternoon, said that all the bodies would be flown to France and that he would make sure that families can, at some point, travel to the crash site to help them cope with their grief. "A headstone will be erected so that no one ever forgets that on this land, on this site, 118 people perished," Hollande said in a television address, his third on the air disaster in three days. Families of victims from Burkina Faso, from where the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft took off early on Thursday morning, were flown out by helicopter to pay … [Read more...] about Families mourn victims of Air Algerie crash in Mali
Bodies of six more Laos air crash victims retrieved from river
BANGKOK - Search teams have pulled six more bodies of air crash victims from the Mekong River in Laos, the national carrier said Sunday, taking the number of corpses recovered to 38. More than half of the 49 passengers and crew were foreigners from some 10 countries. Search teams from neighbouring Thailand have been scouring the river for bodies along with experts from the airline and the French-Italian aircraft maker. But they have been hampered by strong currents which have swept some bodies several kilometres away from the crash site. "Now the total found bodies are 38," Sengpraseuth Mathouchan, the airline's vice-president, said in a statement Sunday, after six more bodies were found overnight. "Lao forensic teams and experts from Thailand are continuing to identify" the bodies, he said, adding "our thoughts and prayers are with the families affected by this terrible tragedy". On Saturday the airline said it had identified 14 of the 32 bodies hauled from the river by … [Read more...] about Bodies of six more Laos air crash victims retrieved from river
72 killed in Iran air crash
Seventy-two people, including 12 crew members, were killed when a passenger plane with 105 people on board crashed Sunday evening in northwest Iran, the semi-official Fars news agency reported early Monday morning. The remaining 33 people were injured, some in bad condition, Fars quoted the latest report of the Coroner Office of Iran's West Azerbaijan province as saying. … [Read more...] about 72 killed in Iran air crash