Air Algerie AH5017: One Briton Among Plane Victims Killed in Crash

A British man was among those killed when an Air Algerie flight crashed in Africa, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

Flight AH5017 came down in southern Mali, killing 118 people, including 54 French nationals.

The plane, an MD-83, carrying 110 passengers and a crew of six took off at 1:17am local time on Thursday from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, on a flight to Algiers.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane less than an hour later, after it had passed northward out of the country's air space.

A statement from the FCO said: "It is with deep regret that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirms the death of a British man on board Air Algerie flight AH5107.

"We are providing consular support to his family at this tragic time, and we ask that the media respect the privacy of those grieving."

News of the death of the Briton, named David Morgan was announced as the first photos emerged of the crash site.

Fifty-one of the passengers on the plane were French citizens, and when it was reported missing, French warplanes based in the region were dispatched to hunt for it.

An entire family comprising three generations from France was killed in crash. A girl named Chloe was killed in the tragedy along with her parents, Bruno Cailleret and Caroline Boisnard, as well as her elder brother and grandmother.

The five had been returning from a trip to Burkina Faso, where Ms Boisnard's uncle lived.

They had been due to land in the southern city of Marseille after flying via Algiers, which is where the doomed aircraft was heading.

The loss of the family in the disaster has left the small town of Menet in central France "devastated", according to Denise Labbe of the town hall.

Ms Labbe said: "Everyone is devastated in the town. We all know the family, who live in front of the town hall. No one can quite believe it. It's like having a bad dream."

Chloe had been excited about the trip to Burkina Faso, but expressed her fears about flying for the first time she said, adding: "She had confided in her teacher before leaving about her fear of taking the plane, which she was doing for the first time," said Ms Labbe.

A family of 10, including four children, from the Rhone-Alpes region of France were also killed in the crash.

The death toll increased from 116 to 118 after the final passenger manifest was released.

Early theories about the cause of the crash have focused on the weather. Fierce thunderstorms were pounding the Sahara region where the plane would have flown.

According to the official, Gen Gilbert Diendéré, chief of the general staff, a close aide to Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore and head of the crisis committee set up to investigate the crash, the storms probably played a role in bringing the plane down.