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Atlantic searched for lost plane

Other News Materials 2 June 2009 10:58 (UTC +04:00)

Rescuers are searching waters deep in the Atlantic for a French airliner which disappeared in a storm early on Monday.

The search, involving ships and planes from many nations, was part-suspended overnight, but aircraft with monitoring equipment continued to scour the sea, BBC reported.

The Air France Airbus was heading from Brazil to Paris when it disappeared.

France believes there is little hope of finding survivors from among the 228 passengers and crew aboard the flight.

Vessels from France, Spain, Senegal and Brazil are involved in the search, while the United States is said to be offering help with satellite reconnaissance.

Plane crews have narrowed their search to a zone of a few dozen nautical miles half-way between Brazil and west Africa, said Pierre-Henry Gourgeon, chief executive of Air France, late on Monday.

Their work may be aided by the Airbus's Argos beacons, which will emit signals for several days, he added.

An automatic report of a short circuit was the last communication received from the plane before it vanished over the ocean.

French officials believe it may have been disabled by a storm. French and US sources have ruled out terrorism as the cause of the plane's loss.

Most of the missing people are Brazilian or French but they include a total of 32 nationalities. Five Britons and three Irish citizens are among them.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy said he had told friends and relatives waiting at the Charles de Gaulle "the truth" - that the chances of finding anyone alive were "very small".

If no survivors are found, it will be the worst loss of life involving an Air France plane in the firm's 75-year history.

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