Paris, France (GenevaLunch) – Air France officials have confirmed that six Swiss nationals are among the passengers of the missing flight from Brazil to France. Most of the 228 persons on board were French and Brazilian with 61 and 58 passengers respectively.
Debris has been found off the coast of Senegal although it has not been confirmed it belongs to AF447. The missing plane sent an automatic message to Air France signalling an electrical circuit malfunction and loss of pressure about four hours into the flight.
A team of approximately 20 Air France staff members, including two doctors and a nurse, arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 2 June, to assist family members of the passengers. In Paris, France an interreligious ceremony for the relatives and friends of the victims will be held tomorrow, 3 June, at 16:00 at the Notre-Dame Cathedral.
A special phone line has been set up for relatives and friends outside France: +33 1 57 02 10 55. In addition a toll-free number operates for those calling from France: 0800 800 812
Eleven of the 12 crew members working on AF 447 are reported to be French nationals and the other Brazilian. The flight captain is a 58-year old French national with 11,000 flight hours, including 1,700 on Airbus A330/A340.
Among the 216 passengers are:
61 French
58 Brazilians
26 Germans
9 Chinese
9 Italians
6 Swiss
5 British
5 Lebanese
4 Hungarians
3 Irish
3 Norwegians
3 Slovakians
2 Americans
2 Moroccans
2 Spaniards
2 Polish
1 Argentinian
1 Austrian
1 Belgian
1 Croatian
1 Dane
1 Dutch
1 Estonian
1 Filipino
1 Gambian
1 Icelandic
1 Canadian
1 Romanian
1 Russian
1 South African
1 Swede
1 Turk