Algeria plane crash: More than 250 killed after military aircraft crashes near Boufarik air base, officials say

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Tom Powell11 April 2018

More than 250 people have been killed after a military plane crashed soon after take-off in Algeria, the country's defence ministry said.

Thick black smoke could be seen billowing above the wreckage near the Boufarik air base on Wednesday.

The cause of the crash was unclear, and an investigation has been opened, according to the Defence Ministry.

A total of 257 people have died in the crash, state TV reported.

Mohammed Achour, chief spokesman for the civil protection agency, said the plane was carrying soldiers.

The flight had just taken off from Boufarik, about 20 miles south west of the capital Algiers, for a military base in Bechar in south-west Algeria, Mr Achour said.

It was scheduled to stop off in Tindouf, southern Algeria, home to many refugees from the neighbouring western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Morocco.

Firefighters and soldiers at the scene of a fatal military plane crash
AP

The Soviet-designed Il-76 military transport plane crashed in an agricultural zone with no residents.

It was the first crash of an Algerian military plane since February 2014, when a US-built C-130 Hercules turboprop crashed into a mountain, killing at least 76 people and leaving just one survivor.

The plane crashed 20 miles away from the capital Algiers
AFP/Getty Images

In 2003, 10 people died when an Algerian Air Force C-130 crashed after an engine caught fire shortly after it took off from the air base near Boufarik, according to the Aviation Safety Network's database.

The previous deadliest crash on Algerian soil occurred in 2003, when 102 people were killed after a civilian airliner crashed at the end of the runway in Tamanrasset. There was a single survivor in that crash.

The Il-76 model has been in production since the 1970s and has an overall good safety record. It is widely used for both commercial freight and military transport. The Algerian military operates several of the planes.

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