French magistrate opens murder inquiry into TWA airliner crash

AFrench magistrate has opened a murder inquiry into the crash of the TWA airliner off New York last month after families of the French victims of the disaster complained of a lack of information, a lawyer said yesterday.

The lawyer, Gilles-Jean Portejoie, said the French inquiry, headed by a Paris magistrate, Chantal Perdrix, "should not be interpreted as an act of distrust in American investigators".

All 230 passengers and crew aboard the Paris-bound TWA airliner, including 45 French citizens, were killed when it exploded over the Atlantic just after take-off. Reuter - Paris