Algeria confirms missing aircraft crashes

ALGIERS - Algeria Thursday confirmed that the missing flight AH 5017 of Air Algeria with 116 people on board crashed in Mali, local media reported.

"We can confirm that the plane crashed in Malian territory and there are rescue teams that are close to the wreck," APS news agency cited Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra as saying.

The minister made the statement at a press conference in Algiers, after the signing of the roadmap of peace negotiations between Malian government and rebel groups based in northern Mali.

Lamamra said the aircraft carried passengers from 13 different countries, including six Algerians, without giving further information.

Air Algeria had announced that the plane, MD-83, owned by the company from Spanish Swift Air, went missing 50 minutes after takeoff, en route from Burkina Faso to Algiers.