CRI听力:French Flags Fly at Half-mast in Honor of Crash Victims

Flags at all public buildings in France are now flying at half-staff for the next 3-days to honor the 54 French nationals killed last week in Air Algerie crash in northern Mali.

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius says the plane's black boxes have arrived in Paris for investigation.

"The two black boxes have arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport, from Bamako. These black boxes had been handed over yesterday to our ambassador in Mali, in accordance with the decision of Timbuktu's chief prosecutor and the authorisation of the Malian president of the investigatory committee."

Fabius has also confirmed previous reports the plane's crew asked to change its route before contact was lost.

The Air Algerie flight crashed in northern Mali early Thursday, killing all 118 passengers and crew.

Initial indications are the pilots were concerned about bad weather in the region at the time.

The flight was headed from Burkina Faso to Algeria when it went down.