Bodies of 19 Lebanese Killed in Algerian Jet Crash Arrive in Beirut

A plane carrying the bodies of 19 Lebanese killed in the July Algerian jet crash arrived Sunday at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport.

The coffins were received in a solemn ceremony at the airport that was attended by a large number of the victims' relatives and friends as well as top state officials.

An Internal Security Forces band performed an anthem for the dead as 25 ambulances and 70 medics awaited at the airport to transfer the caskets to the hometowns of the victims.

“Putting an end to the death of Lebanese expats in plane crashes is our responsibility and we must address the issue,” Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said at the airport, after he arrived on the same plane that carried the bodies.

Representatives of Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Lebanon's religious leaders as well as several lawmakers were present at the airport.

PM Salam had declared Sunday a day of national mourning.

The National News Agency identified the victims as follows:

- Randa Basma, the wife of Fayez Daher, and her children Ali, Salah and Shayma

- Munji Hassan, his wife Najwa Zayyat and their children Mohammed Rida, Hussein, Hassan and Ruqayya

- Bilal Dhayni, his German wife and their children Malek, Rayyan and Olivia

- Mohammed Akhdar, Fadi Rustom, Omar Ballan and Jospeh al-Hajj

The plane crashed on July 24 during a flight from Burkina Faso to Algiers.

The wreckage of the McDonnell Douglas 83 jet -- operated by Spanish charter firm Swiftair on behalf of Air Algerie -- was located 50 kilometers north of the Burkina Faso border in Mali's Gossi region.

Salam had asked French President Francois Hollande for his country's help in identifying the bodies of the 19 Lebanese victims.

France bore the brunt of the disaster, with some 54 French citizens among the overall death toll of 116. Travelers from Burkina Faso, Algeria, Spain, Canada, Germany and Luxembourg also died in the crash.

Y.R.