Algerian military aircraft crash kills 257
Algeria’s Defence Ministry said 257 people died yesterday when a military plane carrying soldiers and their families crashed soon after take-off.
The aircraft went down near Boufarik Airport, 32 kilometres from the capital, Algiers. The head of the military has ordered an investigation into the crash, the cause of which is unknown.
The ministry said 247 passengers and 10 crew members were killed and that most of the victims were soldiers and their relatives.
Black smoke rose from the field where wreckage of the aircraft lay, while hundreds of ambulances and dozens of fire trucks converged on the area.
The flight had just taken off from Boufarik, south-west of Algiers, heading for a military base.
It was due to make a layover in Tindouf in southern Algeria, home to many refugees from the neighbouring Western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Morocco.
The Algerian state news agency said the Soviet-designed Il-76 plane was bound for Bechar in south-west Algeria. The model has been in production since 1970s and has a good safety record. It is widely used for commercial freight and military transport. The Algerian military operates several of them.
In February 2014, 77 people died when a military plane carrying army personnel and family members crashed between Tamanrasset in southern Algeria and the eastern city of Constantine.
The C-130 Hercules transport aircraft came down in the mountainous Oum El Bouaghi region.
In July 2014, an Air Algerie passenger plane flying from Burkina Faso to Algiers crashed in northern Mali, killing all 116 people on board, including 54 French nationals.