ALGIERS, Algeria — Burkina Faso’s transport minister says five Canadians were among those onboard an Air Algerie flight that disappeared from radar today over northern Mali after heavy rains were reported.
The plane was carrying 116 people from Burkina Faso to Algeria’s capital, according to the plane’s owner and government officials in France and Burkina Faso.
Air navigation services lost track of the MD-83 about 50 minutes after takeoff from Ougadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, at 0155 GMT (9:55 p.m. EDT Wednesday), the official Algerian news agency APS said.
Burkina Faso’s transport minister said 50 French nationals were among those onboard, along with 24 Burkina Faso nationals, six Lebanese, five Canadians, four Algerians, two Luxemburg nationals, one Swiss, one Nigerian, one Cameroonian and one Malian.