Flags at half mast for AH5017 victims

FLAGS are flying at half mast on public buildings across France, as three days of mourning starts for victims of Thursday’s Air Algeria crash in Mali.

President François Hollande announced the three-day mourning period on Saturday following a meeting with victims’ families.

Fifty-four of the 118 people who died in the crash were French nationals.

Flight AH5017 disappeared from radar less than an hour into its journey from Burkina Faso to Algeria, after changing course because of bad weather, officials said.

The wreckage was found in what has been described as a “disintegrated state” in the Gossi region of Mali, near the border with Burkina Faso.

Both data recorders have been found and have been taken to France for examination.

One is reported to be in good condition, but the device that records pilots’ chatter is badly damaged, Rémi Jouty, director of the Bureau of Investigation and analysis for the safety of civil aviation told France 3.

On Saturday, 33 French forensic experts arrived at the crash site to help the investigation.

Photo: John Althouse Cohen