Bamako (Mali): The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali said today that its experts found the second black box of the Air Algerie plane that fell from the sky and disintegrated in remote northern Mali, killing all 118 people onboard.
UN specialists located the second black box that may help to determine what caused the plane to go down, according to a statement by the UN mission.
The Air Algerie jet was flying from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to Algiers, Algeria on Thursday when it went down in a remote part of northern Mali near the border with Burkina Faso.
The Burkina Faso government has flown three family members of those killed aboard the jet to the site in Mali where debris from the plane and the remains of passengers are scattered, said spokesman Victorien Sawadogo.
A government helicopter this morning transported the family members, from France, Lebanon and Burkina Faso, so they could view the results of the air disaster, he said. A psychologist is accompanying them and a second flight to the site was planned today, he said.
Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore will meet with other family members Saturday afternoon, said the spokesman. In Paris, French President Francois Hollande was meeting today with families of victims. Nearly half of the victims were French.
Spanish and Algerian officials flew to Burkina Faso today to express their condolences.
"We send a message of condolences, sympathy, solidarity and availability to the people of Burkina Faso," Amar Ghoule, the Algerian minister of transportation and special envoy of president Aziz Bouteflika, told journalists after meeting with Compaore.
The Spanish ambassador in Burkina Fernando Maran also expressed "the will of the Spanish government to collaborate with Burkina Faso and other countries by making available all technical and human means that they have." All six members of flight AH 5017 were Spanish.
In Ouagadougou, a supermarket has been closed for the second day after the loss of the owner.
