DHAKA: The wreck of a plane that disappeared with 116 people on board on a flight from Burkina Faso to Algiers has been found in Mali, officials say.

The Burkinabe army said the plane, operated by Algeria's national airline Air Algerie, had crashed about 50km (30 miles) from the Burkina Faso border.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane early on Thursday after pilots reported severe storms.

The passengers included 51 French citizens, reports BBC.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 - Flight AH 5017 - had been chartered from Spanish airline Swiftair.

Malian state television confirmed that the wreckage was found in the village of Boulikessi by a helicopter from Burkina Faso, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Gilbert Diendere, a Burkina Faso army general, said Mali had agreed to their cross-border search which was launched after a resident in Gossi described seeing a plane go down to the south-west of the town.

BDST: 0950 HRS, JUL 25, 2014