Crash of Algerian military plane kills 257

The crash of this Russian-made transport plane in Algeria killed soldiers, their family members and 30 people from refugee camps in the north Africa nation’s south.

tarmac” of the military airport in Boufarik, 20 miles south of Algiers, the capital, Maj. Gen. Boualem Madhi told the public TV station Canal Algerie. The plane crashed in a field just outside

the base and was devoured by flames, killing 247 passengers and 10 crew members, the Defense Ministry said.

There was no official mention of survivors, but one witness reported seeing people jump out of the aircraft before it crashed.

The crash is the worst aviation disaster in Algeria’s history. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ordered three days of mourning starting immediately and prayers for the dead at mosques across the country on Friday.

In the south, the Algerianbacked Polisario Front, which is seeking independence for Western Sahara, ordered a week of mourning for the 30 dead Sahrawi people from its refugee camps in Tindouf, a statement from the group said.

The flight was headed to Tindouf and then Bechar, in the southwest, the site of another military base, according to Farouk Achour, spokesman for Algeria’s civil protection services. Tindouf is home to many refugees from the neighboring Western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Morocco.

The National Liberation Army — which grew out of the fighting force which freed Algeria from French colonial rule — is revered by Algerians. It is credited with saving the nation from an insurgency by Islamist extremists in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The army’s experience fighting terrorism has made it a valued ally of the U.S. and other western nations. The U.S. Embassy in Algiers expressed its “deepest condolences” to “our partners and colleagues in the Algerian military” and their families.