Lebanese authorities called the families of the 19 victims who were onboard the Air Algerie plane to provide DNA testing, after French President Francois Hollande announced Friday that there were no survivors onboard the Air Algerie fl
Lebanese authorities called the families of the 19 victims who were onboard the Air Algerie plane to provide DNA testing, after French President Francois Hollande announced Friday that there were no survivors onboard the Air Algerie flight that crashed over Mali.
The Lebanese Director General of the Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ministry, Haitham Jomaa, told relatives to call 03-211103 to supply their DNA samples, as they will be key to the search and retrieval operations in Mali.
French forces secured the site of a crashed Air Algerie flight in Mali, and found one "black box" but no survivors. France's transport minister, Frederic Cuvillier, ruled out earlier Friday the possibility that any of the passengers onboard had survived, even though the black box flight recorder of the plane had been recovered.
"Given the state of the plane [wreck], it is very unlikely, even out of the question, that there are any survivors," Cuvillier said on French television.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said meteorological conditions appeared to be the most likely cause of the crash, but added that authorities were not excluding other potential causes for the crash.
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil told The Daily Star Thursday that 19 Lebanese were onboard the plane, but there's possibility that there was more.
“I can confirm that at least 19 passengers were Lebanese,” Bassil said. “We suspect that two other passengers are also Lebanese and we’re trying to confirm their identities.”
Lebanon is expected to announce a day of national mourning for the 19 Lebanese victims who were among the 116 passengers who died in the crash.