Updated | Algerian officials say missing plane crashed

Algerian aviation officials have reported that the missing passenger plane en route to Algiers had crashed.

Two French fighter jets based in the region have been dispatched to try to locate the airliner along its probable route, a French army spokesman said. Niger security sources said planes were flying over the border region with Mali to search for the flight.

A powerful sandstorm in the area of Malian capital Bamako may have contributed to the incident, although details are still emerging.

Algeria's national airline, Air Algerie, has said it has lost contact with one of its planes flying from Burkina Faso earlier today.

Contact was lost about 50 minutes after take-off from Ouagadougou, the airline is quoted by Algeria's state news agency as saying.

Flight AH 5017 had 110 passengers and six crew on board, Spanish airline Swiftair, which owns the plane, said.

The pilot had contacted Niger's control tower in Niamey to change course because of a storm, correspondents say.

Algerian and French nationals are thought to be on board. "In keeping with procedures, Air Algerie has launched its emergency plan," Air Algerie officials, quoted by APS news agency (in French), said.

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal reportedly told Algerian radio: "The plane disappeared at Gao (in Mali), 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the Algerian border."

UN troops in Mali say they understand the plane came down between Gao and Tessalit, the BBC's Alex Duval Smith in the Malian capital Bamako reports.

Brigadier General Koko Essien, who is leading the UN troops, said the area leading up to the Algerian border was vast and sparsely populated.

He added that weather in the area had been bad overnight. Armed groups are also said to be active in the area. However, at the moment the most probable scenario looks like a plane that came down in bad weather, our correspondent adds.