Sad News Indeed: “No Survivors In Air Algerie Crash”- French President: 1 Black Box Recovered

French soldiers have secured a black box from the wreckage of an Air Algerie plane that went down in a desolate region of restive northern Mali, the French president said Friday.
Terrorism hasn't been ruled out as a cause of the crash, although officials say the most likely reason for the catastrophe that killed all onboard is bad weather.
At least 116 people -- including five Canadians -- were killed in Thursday's disaster, nearly half of whom were French. President Francois Hollande put the number of victims at 118, a discrepancy that couldn't be immediately clarified.

One of two black boxes was recovered from the wreckage in the Gossi region of Mali near the border with Burkina Faso, and was taken to the northern city of Gao, where a French contingent is based, Hollande told reporters after an emergency meeting with government ministers.
"There are, alas, no survivors," Hollande said. "I share the pain of families living through this terrible ordeal."
A team of French air accident investigators was being sent to Mali, he said.
Air Algerie and private Spanish airline Swiftair, which was operating Flight 5017, said Thursday there were 116 people onboard.
French television showed images of the crash site scene taken by a soldier from Burkina Faso. The brief footage showed a desolate area with scattered debris that was unrecognizable. There were bits of twisted metal but no identifiable parts such as the fuselage or tail, or victims' bodies. Scrubby vegetation could be seen scattered in the background.

Burkina soldiers were reportedly the first to reach the site, apparently Thursday evening, and the images were viewed at the Burkina Faso crisis centre.
Gen. Gilbert Diendere, a close aide to Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore and head of the crisis committee, said of the footage: "People expected to see an airplane sitting somewhere, and unfortunately it was debris scattered over 500 metres (about 550 yards), which made the search of the area very, very difficult."

Our condolences go out to the family and loved ones of the passengers, may the departed souls R.I.P-Amen.

Tragic: Four members of the Daher family were on board the doomed flight, including mother Randa (far left), Ali, 17, (back right) and Salah, 15 (front right). Her five-year-old daughter Shaima was also on the plane (pictured left in the arms of her father, who was not on board, and alone in the right-hand image)

Upset: This image shows members of the French Ouedraogo family who died on board the Air Algerie flight. All those with their faces unblurred are believed to have been killed. From left to right, they are Samson, mother Maryse, Noa, father Seydou, and their young daughter Elora

Grieving: Amadou Ouedraogo, from Nantes in France, poses with pictures of his brother, Seydou and his family who were aboard the Air Algerie plane that crashed in Mali yesterday

Victims: Mohamed Akhdar is seen after graduating from university in Lebanon (left). The image on the right shows Bilal Deheini, 43. Both of the Lebanese nationals were on board the doomed Air Algerie flight.

Family: Intissar Deheini holds a picture of her brother Bilal and one of his children. Bilal is believed to have been killed in the Air Algerie plane crash in Mali.

Tears: Relatives of the Deheini family who were aboard the Air Algerie plane when it crashed over Mali, mourn at the family's home in the village of al-Kharayeb in south Lebanon this morning.

Task: French officials have dispatched a military unit to secure the crash site, which is in territory dominated by al-Qaeda linked Islamist militants and Tuareg separatists, Francois Hollande said this morning.