Algiers, Mar 07: The Algerian government today said
an engine fire caused the crash of an air Algerie jet as it
took off from the Sahara desert town of Tamanrasset, killing
all but one of 100 people on board.
"Early investigations show that the right-hand engine of
the aircraft caught fire, but we do not yet know why, and that
will be determined by a commission of inquiry," transport
minister Abdelmalek Sellal said on Algerian radio.
"It was a technical problem," he added.
A spokesman for air Algerie, named only as Mr Hamzi, had
yesterday blamed the crash -- the worst since the North
African country won independence from france in 1962 -- on
equipment failure.
Witnesses have said they saw flames shooting out of one
of the engines as the aircraft, a Boeing 737, taxied on the
runway of the southeastern Algerian City for takeoff.
Confusion remained today over the number of people who
had embarked on the flight.
An official toll issued in the morning revised the number
of dead downwards to 101, including six French nationals, out
of 102 people on board.
Earlier reports said all but one person out of 103 aboard
had been killed in the disaster.
The death toll was revised downwards after a French
national who had been counted among the victims of the
disaster was said by national television to have not embarked
in Tamanrasset.
Bureau Report
