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The II-76 crashed shortly after take-off from the Boufarik airbase, about 25 kilometres southwest of the capital Algiers. PHOTO | ALGERIA STATE TV
257 dead in Algeria plane crash
ALGIERS
At least 257 people, mostly soldiers and members of their families, were killed in an Algerian military plane crash Tuesday, the defence ministry said.
The II-76 crashed shortly after take-off from the Boufarik airbase, about 25 kilometres southwest of the capital Algiers.
The dead include the plane’s 10 crew and 247 passengers, most of them members of the armed forces, the ministry said in a statement.
A military transport plane slammed into a field near the Algerian capital Wednesday, killing at least 257 people in one of the worst aviation disasters in the North African nation’s history.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, which took place shortly after takeoff from the Boufarik military airport, about 20 miles southwest of Algiers. The army’s chief of staff went to inspect the site and ordered an investigation, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.
