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Soldier is sole crash survivor


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ALGIERS, March 7 (Reuters) -- An Algerian soldier was the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed 102 people in the Sahara desert on Thursday, an airline official said Friday.

The official of state airline Air Algerie revised down the death toll of 103, given by airport authorities on Thursday, to 102. One passenger had been known to have survived and the official said he was a soldier flying back to his Algiers barracks at the end of his leave.

"The death toll stands at 102 dead -- 96 passengers and six crew," said Air Algerie senior official Dali Chaouch Jalaleddine.

He said the surviving soldier "emerged from a coma late on Thursday and is now diagnosed out of danger."

Airport authorities had said earlier that 97 passengers and six crew members were killed in the plane crash near Tamanrasset, deep in the Sahara desert. They had said one survivor had serious injuries.

It was the worst air accident in Algeria since the North African country gained independence from France 41 years ago.

Officials said seven French passengers were among the dead.

The official news agency APS, quoting rescue workers at the scene, said the Boeing 737-200 plane had crashed shortly after take-off from Tamanrasset in the Sahara in the far south of the country Thursday.

It had been heading for Algiers on the Mediterranean coast in the north and had been due to make a stop over at Ghardaia, 470 km (290 miles) south of the capital.

APS said the government had set up a crisis committee to investigate the "technical causes of the accident" -- a wording suggesting authorities ruled out a deliberate attack.

Asked about the possible cause of the accident, Jalaleddine said: "Only the investigation can give the answer when the authorities wrap up the probe into the accident."



Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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