‘Hundreds Dead’ After Military Plane Crash In Algeria

At least 247 people have died after a military plane crashed in Algeria, media reports say.

Twenty-six members of Polisario Front, supported by Algeria and seeking independence from Morocco for Western Sahara, are said to be among the dead.

The incident happened shortly after the plane took off from Boufarik military airport near the capital Algiers, but reasons for the crash remain unclear.

No official toll has been released.

Footage from the scene showed smoke coming off wreckage in a field.

TV news reports said 14 ambulances were at the scene and injured people were being transferred to hospital.

The head of the army has ordered an investigation into the crash and will visit the scene, according to a statement from the defence ministry.

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

The deadliest crashes of the last 15 years

• 17 July 2014: Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashes near Grabove in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board, 193 of them Dutch. Pro-Russian rebels are widely accused of shooting the plane down using a surface-to-air missile – they deny responsibility
• 19 February 2003: An Iranian military transport aircraft carrying 276 people crashes in the south of the country, killing all on board
• 1 June 2009: An Air France Airbus 330 travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashes into the Atlantic with 228 people on board. Search teams later recover some 50 bodies
• 31 October 2015: An Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia, crashes over central Sinai some 22 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board. The Islamic State group’s local affiliate later says it brought down the plane in response to Russian intervention in Syria
• 7 July 2007: A TAM Airlines jet crashes on landing at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, in Brazil’s worst-ever air disaster. A total of 199 people are killed – all 186 on board and 13 on the ground

Source: BBC