An Air France plane with 228 people on board was presumed to have crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after hitting stormy weather during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris last night.
The airline offered its condolences to the families of the passengers, making clear it did not expect any rescue.
The plane was packed with 216 passengers including seven children and one baby.
Most of them were French or Brazilian but they included around 20 Germans and several other nationalities.
The full Airbus jet flew into storms and heavy turbulence four hours after take-off from Rio and 15 minutes later sent an automatic message reporting electrical faults.
On the rescue mission, France sent one of its air force planes from West Africa and several ships while they also asked the United States to assist in locating the crash site using US satellite data.
Tearful relatives were led away by airport staff in Paris to a private area where psychologists were ready to assist them.
French President Nicholai Sarkozy, through an interpreter, on the tragedy.
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Plane presumed to have crashed
