Algeria—257 persons including 10 crew members were killed when an Algerian military transport plane crashed Wednesday just outside the Boufarik military air base in a farm field, international media reported.
The accident occurred just after the taking off from an air base south of the capital, Algiers, informs a statement from the Ministry of Defense. The Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76 was headed to the southwestern city of Bechar. Deceased are said to be the soldiers and their family members.
A ministry statement states that most of dead are armis as well as their families. “The bodies of the victims are being taken to the Central Hospital of the Army in Ain Naadja to identify them.”, statement says.The military added that Gen. Gaid Salah, head of the army, had gone to the incident site and asked for an investigation into the accident.
Television images showed black smoke billowing from the crash site, some 20 miles south of Algiers on the way to the city of Blida. Rescue personnel moved around the shattered plane.
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