Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage of the crash was broadcast on Algerian TV

An Algerian military plane has crashed near the capital killing 257 people on board, officials say.

The aircraft came down just after taking off from Boufarik military airport, west of Algiers.

An inquiry is under way into the cause of the crash - Algeria's worst-ever air disaster. The government has declared three days of national mourning.

Most of the dead are army personnel and their families, the defence ministry says. Ten crew members also died.

Passengers from Western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Morocco after Spain withdrew in 1975, were among the fatalities.

The Polisario Front, which is seeking independence for the territory and is backed by Algeria, says 30 Western Saharans, including women and children, died. A senior member of Algeria's ruling FLN party said those killed included 26 Polisario members.

The plane, an Ilyushin Il-76, was travelling to Bechar and Tindouf in the south-west of the country. The Tindouf region, which borders Western Sahara, is home to refugee camps and serves as a base for the Polisario Front.

Tragedy for Algeria

Rana Jawad, North Africa correspondent

As one might expect in the immediate aftermath of such incidents, there are more questions than answers over this latest deadly plane crash in Algeria.

For now, it is not known whether the cause was due to safety or mechanical problems, pilot error or interference - but these are elements that will likely be examined during the course of the investigation.

The country's maintenance record of both military and commercial aircraft will also likely come under close scrutiny in the coming days.

But for Algeria, and its military institution, the loss of life is a tragedy on a scale not seen before in its modern aviation history.

Witnesses say they saw a wing catch fire as the plane took off. It then went down, avoiding a highway and crashing into a field.

A military aviation observer told the BBC that, based on how intact portions of the plane were, they believed the pilot had tried to crash-land.

Dozens of firefighters and rescuers worked around the smouldering wreckage. One eyewitness told local television: "We saw bodies burned. It is a real disaster".

Officials are quoted as saying some survivors were taken to hospital, but it is unclear how many there were or what their current condition is.

Wednesday's plane crash is the deadliest in the world since July 2014, when all 298 people on board Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 died when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

It is also the second-deadliest plane crash since 2003.

Four years ago a plane carrying military personnel and family members crashed in Algeria, killing 77 people.

The deadliest crashes of the past 15 years</s>More than 250 people were killed when a military plane crashed near Algeria's capital with witnesses saying they saw a wing catch fire shortly after the plane took off.

Dozens of firefighters, rescue workers and military officials worked around the blackened fuselage of the aircraft, which had been ripped open near its wings.

Bits of mangled and smouldering debris were scattered across the field near Boufarik airport southwest of Algiers where people were searching for bodies among the rubble.

Earlier TV images showed flames and smoke billowing from the site of the crash, the country's worst air disaster.

"This morning at around 8am an Ilyushin model military transport plane ... crashed directly after takeoff in an agricultural field that was clear of residents," Major General Boualem Madi told state TV.

AAP

A line of white body bags could be seen on the ground next to the wreck of what media said was a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane, part of which was still intact. Smoke was still billowing hours after the crash.

"After taking off, with the plane at a height of 150 metres I saw the fire on its wing. The pilot avoided crashing on the road when he changed the flight path to the field," Abd El Karim, a witness, told the private Ennahar TV station.

Another witness said: "We saw bodies burned. It is a real disaster".

Most dead are army personnel and their families

A total of 257 people were killed, most of them military, the defence ministry said.

Ten crew and other people described as family members died, and a number of survivors were being treated at an army hospital, the ministry added.

The plane had been heading to Tindouf on the border with Western Sahara, Algeria's defence ministry said.

One young man cried as he spoke to a local TV station about a relative who died in the crash.

"We talked on the phone yesterday evening and he promised to call me again on arrival in Tindouf," he said.

A member of Algeria's ruling FLN party told Ennahar the dead included 26 members of the Polisario Front, an Algerian-backed group fighting for the independence of neighbouring Western Sahara, a territory also claimed by Morocco in a long-running dispute.

Algeria's worst air disaster

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.

🔴#DIRECT 🔴 #Algérie

L'avion militaire était à destination de Béchar et s'est écrasé quelques minutes après son décollagehttps://t.co/Uxe6HUFi4X pic.twitter.com/LZpTKEDszH — Algérie24 (@Alg24net) April 11, 2018

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.</s>Algeria's defense ministry says 257 people have been killed in a military plane crash and some survivors have been rescued.Civil protection agency spokesman Farouk Achour told The Associated Press that the "provisional" death toll from the crash on Wednesday is 181. He said some passengers were "extracted with deep burns caused by the fuselage catching fire."He said more than 300 emergency workers are working at the scene.Algerian TV network Ennahar published images of body bags lined up in a field after the crash.The crash occurred soon after takeoff from the Boufarik air base southwest of the capital Algiers.</s>ALGIERS: An Algerian military plane crashed on Wednesday near Boufarik airport near the capital Algiers. The plane was reportedly carrying more than 250 military personnel. At least 257 are feared dead in the crash, including 26 from Western Sahara, say Reuters.

Some reports even suggest that there were at least two hundred people on board the aircraft. At least fourteen 14 ambulances are present at the scene. The injured are being rushed to the hospital. All roads near the airport have been closed for emergency services and for rescue operations to be carried out.

Television footage showed black smoke billowing near a motorway and a crowd of security officials and others standing in a field next to the crash site. The tail fin of a plane could be seen above olive trees, with smoke and flames rising from the wreckage.

The crash took place soon after take-off at Boufarik military airport near the capital, Algiers. The airport is a base used by the country's air force.

As per reports, the plane was an Ilyushin Il-76 and was headed to the western Algerian city of Bechar.

IL-76 is a medium-range military transport aircraft. Also known by the Nato codename 'Candid', the aircraft is mainly used to drop paratroopers, carry troop forces and combat material with crews and armaments, including medium-sized battle tanks, airlift cargo for troop forces and transport for disaster relief operations.</s>A total of 257 people were killed when a military plane carrying soldiers crashed soon after takeoff in a farm field in northern Algeria on Wednesday, Algerian state TV said.

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

Local media reported that the plane crashed just after taking off. Emergency services converged on the area near the Boufarik military base after the crash. Footage from the scene showed thick black smoke coming off the field, as well as ambulances and Red Crescent vehicles arriving at the site.

 



"There are more than 100 deaths. We can't say exact how many at this point," Mohammed Achour, chief spokesman for the civil protection agency, told The Associated Press.

He said the plane was carrying soldiers. The Defense Ministry did not provide a death toll but expressed condolences to the victims' families.

The flight had just taken off from Boufarik, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of the capital Algiers, for a military base in Bechar in southwest Algeria, Achour said. It was scheduled to make a layover in Tindouf in southern Algeria, home to many refugees from the neighboring Western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Morocco.

Victims of an Algerian military plane crash on Wednesday include 26 members of the Western Saharan Polisario independence movement, an official in Algeria's ruling FLN party said.

FLN Secretary General Djamel made the comment to private broadcaster Ennahar TV but gave no total death toll in the crash, which happened outside Algiers.

The Soviet-designed Ilyushin-76 military transport plane crashed in an agricultural zone with no residents, Achour said.

The Il-76 model has been in production since 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.

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.</s>(AP)- Algeria’s defense ministry says 257 people have died when a military plane carrying soldiers and their families crashed soon after takeoff in a farm field in northern Algeria.

The ministry said in a statement that 247 passengers and 10 crew members were killed. It said most of the victims are soldiers and their relatives. It says the victims’ bodies have been transported to the Algerian army’s central hospital in the town of Ain Naadja for identification.

The crash occurred Wednesday soon after takeoff from the Boufarik air base southwest of the capital Algiers.

The post Military Plane Crashes In Algeria, 257 Dead appeared first on 1470 WMBD.</s>More than 100 people have died in a plane crash at a military airbase in Algeria, state radio said.

The military plane went down soon after taking off from the air base in Boufarik, some 20 miles from the capital Algiers on Wednesday morning.

State media reports that the Soviet-designed Ilyushin Il-76 plane was headed for Bechar in southwest Algeria, and the cause of the crash remains unclear.

Television footage showed black smoke billowing near a motorway and a crowd of security officials and others standing in a field next to the crash site.

The tail fin of a plane could be seen above olive trees, with smoke and flames rising from the wreckage.

'There are more than 100 deaths. We can't say exact how many at this point,' said Mohammed Achour, chief spokesman for the civil protection agency, adding that the plane was carrying soldiers.

The Algerian Defence Ministry has launched an investigation into the incident, and has expressed condolences to the victims' families.

The Ilyushin Il-76 is 153ft long - compared to a Boeign 737 which is just over 110ft - and is designed to carry military cargo.

It can carry between 125 and 140 passengers, depending on equipment, with a crew of seven.

This is the third airplane accident with high number of casualties in Algeria in recent years.

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.</s>An Algerian military plane crashed and caught fire on Wednesday killing 257 people, mostly army personnel and members of their families, officials said.

An AFP photographer at the scene saw the charred wreckage of the plane in a field near the Boufarik airbase from where the plane had taken off.

Hundreds of ambulances and dozens of fire trucks with their sirens wailing rushed to the scene of the crash about 25 kilometres southwest of Algiers.

The defence ministry said in a statement that 247 passengers and 10 crew were killed without mentioning any survivors.

Deputy Defence Minister General Ahmed Gaid Salah visited the site and ordered an investigation into the circumstances of the crash, the defence ministry said.

The Ilyushin II-76 transport plane was bound for Tindouf in southwest Algeria.

Algeria has suffered a string of military and civilian aviation disasters.

Two military planes collided mid-flight in December 2012 during a training exercise in Tlemcen, in the far west of the country, killing the pilots of both planes.

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.

Only one person survived after the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft came down in the mountainous Oum El Bouaghi region.

The defence ministry blamed that crash on bad weather.

An Air Algerie passenger plane flying from Burkina Faso to Algiers crashed in northern Mali in July 2014, killing all 116 people on board including 54 French nationals.

In October the same year, a military plane crashed in the south of the country during a training exercise, killing the two men on board.

That came more than a decade after all but one of the 103 people on an Air Algerie Boeing 737-200 died in March 2003 when it crashed on takeoff in the country´s south after an engine caught fire.</s>ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria’s defense ministry says 257 people have died in military plane crash.</s>Algeria suffered its deadliest-ever air catastrophe Wednesday when a military plane crashed near the capital, killing 257 people on board, mostly army personnel, and their family members, officials said.

Hundreds of ambulances and dozens of fire trucks with sirens wailing rushed to the scene of the crash, in an uninhabited area where one person was injured on the ground by debris.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze and security forces set up a cordon to prevent journalists and onlookers from approaching.

The defense ministry said in a statement that 247 passengers and 10 crew were killed without mentioning any survivors. Most of those on board were army members and their families, it said.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash. Deputy Defence Minister General Ahmed Gaid Salah visited the site and ordered an investigation, the defense ministry said.

The Ilyushin IL-76 transport plane was bound for Tindouf in southwest Algeria near the borders with Morocco and Western Sahara.

The Tindouf region is home to refugees from Western Sahara and houses the administrative offices of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic declared in 1976 by the Algiers-backed Polisario Front which seeks independence for the region.

Rabat considers Western Sahara an integral part of Morocco and proposes autonomy for the resource-rich territory.
An Ilyushin Il-76 military plane crashes shortly after take-off from Boufarik Military Airport in Algeria, killing all 257 passengers on board.