Air Algerie ‘lost contact’ with flight leaving Burkina Faso

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Algerian national carrier Air Algerie on Thursday (July 24) said it had lost contact with one of its aircraft en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers about 50 minutes after take-off.

“Air navigation services have lost contact with an Air Algerie plane Thursday flying from Ouagadougou to Algiers, 50 minutes after take-off,” the airline said, cited by national news agency APS.

Air Algerie has launched an emergency plan in keeping with aviation procedures, APS added.

The national Algerian carrier flies the four-hour passenger route from the Algerian capital of Algiers to Ouagadougou, capital of the West African nation of Burkina Faso, four times a week.

An Algerian official told Reuters that the missing aircraft was an Airbus A320 carrying 110 passengers.

However an Air Algerie source told AFP that the missing aircraft was a DC-9, which can seat up to some 135 passengers, chartered from a Portuguese firm.

The flight path of Flight AH5017 from Ouagadougou to Algiers was not immediately clear.

Ougadougou is in a nearly straight line south of Algiers, passing over Mali, where unrest continues in the north. -AFP