JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Jewish passengers are among those aboard Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, Chabad.org reported.
French businessman Serge Anidjar was traveling home from a business trip to Brazil, according to the Web site.
“They are waiting for news, for information from the government confirming any sign and saying something for sure,” Rabbi Michael Sojcher, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Anidjar’s hometown of Boulogne-Billancourt, said of the man’s wife and three children before it was confirmed that the plane had crashed. “The kids are praying. They still have hope, but it’s a very hard hope.”
Wreckage from the plane, including a plane seat and a life jacket, were discovered floating in the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday.
The flight from Brazil to France went missing Monday over the Atlantic Ocean a couple hours after leaving Rio de Janeiro and 30 minutes after leaving Brazilian radar coverage. The plane flew through a line of thunderstorms, at which time it sent out several messages indicating it was having electrical trouble.
Another Jewish passenger also was on board, but no other information was available for publication, according to Chabad.org.
Reports emerged Wednesday that Air France received a bomb threat called in on a flight from Buenos Aires to Paris just days before Flight 447 crashed. A May 27 flight from Buenos Aires was delayed while the plane was searched for explosives, according to The Daily Mail.
