An Air Algerie flight from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers has crashed with 110 passengers and six crew onboard, Reuters reports. While the cause of the crash is unknown at this time, a diplomat in Bamako, the capital of Mali, told Reuters that the north of the country where the plane was flying was hit by a powerful sandstorm last night.
The flight took off from Burkina Faso at 1:17 a.m. GMT and was scheduled to land in Algiers at 5:10 a.m. GMT, but never arrived. The last contact with Algerian aviation authorities was at 1:55 a.m. when the plane was flying over Gao, Mali.
France has dispatched two fighter jets to search for the plane. Additionally, planes from Niger are searching the border region with Mali.
Read the Reuters story here.