UK sends military chief to China for first visit in 10 years    General strike hits transport in Argentina    Israel releases Palestinian prisoner controversially arrested aged 13    At least 221 dead after Dominican Republic nightclub disaster, as search for survivors ends    Scarlett Johansson hitting Cannes both on-screen and behind the camera    Saudi Organ Center saves 8 lives through coordinated donor recoveries in 12 hours    AlUla joins IMD World Smart Cities Index 2025    Riyadh's Malham Airport designated for general aviation operations    Crown Prince receives calls from British PM and French President    Saudi, U.S. foreign ministers discuss strategic ties and regional developments in Washington    Al-Jadaan: Arab countries must measure the impact of increasing financial pressures    Saudi Arabia to resume direct flights to Syria soon    Flights and ferries suspended across Greece as unions call 24-hour general strike    Saudi Arabia's Industrial Production Index down 0.2% in February    Sabiri strike gives Al Taawoun narrow first-leg win over Sharjah in ACL Two semi-final    Douglas Gauthier appointed CEO of the Royal Arts Complex in Riyadh's King Salman Park    Nightclub collapse kills 79 in Dominican Republic's capital    Women make up 20% of e-sports players in Saudi Arabia    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Saudi U-17s qualify for 2025 FIFA World Cup after win over Thailand    Benzema rescues Al Ittihad with stoppage-time equalizer in thrilling Jeddah Derby    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Mourning begins for Air France crash victims
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 03 - 06 - 2009


French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his
predecessor, Jacques Chirac, took part Wednesday at a
multi-denominational service at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
commemorating the 228 victims of Monday's crash of an Air France
jetliner, according to dpa.
Sarkozy was accompanied to the service by his wife, Carla
Bruni-Sarkozy, as well as Prime Minister Francois Fillon. Also
attending were Air France executives and employees as well as
relatives of some of the victims of Monday's accident.
"We pray for the spouses, the parents and children who have lost
their loved ones," said the archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Andre
Vingt-Trois at the service. "And also for the personnel of Air
France, who will continue to fly."
For the duration of the service, 228 candles burned before the
cathedral's altar, for each of the victim's of France's worst-ever
air disaster.
There were 72 French nationals, 60 Brazilians and 26 Germans among
the plane's 216 passengers and crew of 12.
The memorial service began as Brazilian air force planes continued
to find pieces of wreckage believed to be from the Airbus A330-200
that crashed into the Atlantic while traveling from Rio de Janeiro to
Paris.
Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral said in Brasilia that among the
10 newly-discovered objects there was a large piece about 7 meters
long.
In addition, oil and petrol traces were discovered along a
20-kilometer swathe of the Atlantic Ocean approximately 1,200
kilometers from the Brazilian coast.
On Tuesday, Brazilian Defence Minister Nelson Jobim said there was
"no doubt" that debris found in the area belonged to Air France
flight 447.
A Brazilian ship, the Grajau, has reached the area and will be
seeking to retrieve the debris discovered by the planes, Admiral
Savio Nogueira said. A total of five Brazilian navy ships are on the
way to the area.
Earlier Wednesday, an investigation into the cause of the world's
worst commercial air disaster since 2001 was formally opened.
Officials of France's Office of Accident Investigations and
Analyses (BEA), which is heading the inquiry, said Wednesday that the
search for the cause of the crash would be long and difficult.
"This aviation catastrophe is the worst this country has ever
suffered," BEA director Paul-Louis Arslanian told journalists in
Paris. "We can not allow ourselves to speculate. We must verify
everything."
Arslanian said the accident occurred in the middle of the
Atlantic, where the waters are very deep and the seafloor is very
mountainous. This makes locating the sunken aircraft extremely
difficult.
Arslanian was very clear about the first priority of the
investigation. "We have to find the black boxes," he said.
Each plane carries two black boxes, a flight data recorder and a
cockpit voice recorder, and they are essential in helping
investigators in the painstaking search for the cause of a plane
crash.
"I don't know what we will find. But we will immediately
communicate everything we learn, as soon as it is clear to us,"
Arslanian said.
The BEA said that a first report on its investigation would be
issued at the end of June.
Meanwhile, the search for the fuselage of the aircraft continued.
Captain Christophe Prazuck, of the French army chief of staff, said
that Wednesday would be "a day of transition" in that search.
"We will move from an air operation covering a large zone to a
naval operation over a restricted zone," he was quoted as saying by
the online edition of the daily Le Figaro.
The merchant ships and navy vessels in the area will gather the
debris floating on the surface before submarines are deployed in the
coming weeks to search for the wreckage itself, he said.
In addition, an AWACS surveillance plane will carry out a
"cartography" of the debris in an attempt to determine the precise
place where the aircraft crashed into the sea, to help in the
eventual recovery of the plane's black boxes, Prazuck said.


Clic here to read the story from its source.