Concorde Paris crash kills 113

A Concorde jet bound for New York has crashed minutes after taking off from Paris, killing 113 people.

The Air France aircraft crashed in flames into a Relais Bleu hotel in the town of Gonesse north of the capital, two minutes after take-off from Charles de Gaulle airport.

Relatives' helpline

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The French Interior Ministry has confirmed that 100 passengers and nine crew were killed. At least four people on the ground have also lost their lives.

Air France said all the passengers on board were German, travelling on a flight specially chartered by German tour operator Deilmann.

Emergency services rushed to the scene

They were on their way to pick up a cruise ship in New York bound for Ecuador.

Eyewitnesses said the aircraft's left-side engine was on fire, and that it was not able to gain sufficient altitude before it crashed.

"When the plane crashed, there was a huge ball of fire and an enormous plume of black smoke," one said.

Another told reporters the annex of the hotel was "totally in flames".

Cracks found

The crash is the first of the supersonic jet built by Britain and France.

It comes a day after British Airways confirmed hairline cracks had been discovered in the wings of all seven of its Concorde fleet.

Concorde facts

First plane flew in 1969

13 supersonic jets operated by BA and Air France

Flies above turbulence at almost 60,000 feet

Crosses Atlantic at 1,350mph in less than 3.5 hours

The Concorde has been considered among the world's safest planes.

Its only major scare came in 1979, when a bad landing blew out a plane's tyres. The incident led to a design modification.

The first of the aircraft flew in 1969. Air France and British Airways operate 13 of the supersonic jets.

Air France officials have said in the past that their current fleet is fit to fly safely until 2007.