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Air crash victims' relatives search for the truth

2009-07-04 13:14 BJT

Special Report: Air France jet vanishes |

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Relatives of victims of last month's Air France plane crash have met in Paris to coordinate their efforts to get more information on the investigation into the accident. In a separate development, Brazil's air force said it handed over control of the doomed flight to Senegalese authorities before it crashed - but African officials denied the claim.

Maarten Van Sluys, Representative of Brazilian Assoc. of Victims' Families 
Maarten Van Sluys, Representative of Brazilian Assoc. of Victims' 
Families
 

Representatives of Brazilian victims' families met their French counterparts to share information and coordinate their next steps, after the first report into the crash was released on Thursday.

French investigators said in the report that Air France flight 447 slammed into the Atlantic Ocean, intact and belly first, at such a high speed that the 228 people aboard probably had no time to even inflate their life jackets.

However, representatives of victims' families are unsatisfied. They said they learned little new information from the report and vowed to continue to push for the truth.

Maarten Van Sluys, Representative of Brazilian Assoc. of Victims' Families said "We don't have any explanation. Four hours, it's too much."

A lawyer representing some of the families said his clients felt they did not get many answers from the authorities.

James Healy-Pratt, Lawyer said "We're doing an independent technical investigation...be more forthcoming with the facts."