French nationals on board missing Algerian plane: minister
French Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris after a weekly cabinet meeting on July 23, 2014. By Miguel Medina (AFP)
Paris (AFP) - Many French nationals are thought to be on board an Air Algerie jet that went missing after taking off from Burkina Faso for Algiers, Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier said Thursday.
Top civil aviation officials are holding an emergency meeting and a crisis cell has been set up, he said after a government meeting.
"What we know is that it was an Air Algerie flight that was carrying many French people," he said.
An Air Algerie source said there were about 110 people on board.