Algeria sources reported that at least 100 people were killed when a military plane crashed soon after takeoff in a farm field in northern Algeria yesterday. The officials said according to a Defense Ministry statement the cause of the crash was unclear, and an investigation has been opened, Emergency services converged on the area near the Boufarik military base after the crash.
Meanwhile Mohammed Achour, chief spokesman for the civil protection agency, told The Associated Press that "There are more than 100 deaths. We can't say exact how many at this point”. Further he said the plane was carrying soldiers. The Defense Ministry did not provide a death toll but expressed condolences to the victims' families.
According to sources the flight had just taken off from Boufarik, about 30
kilometers southwest of the capital Algiers, for a military base in Bechar in
southwest Algeria. Moreover 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. Furthermore Achour said the Soviet designed
Il-76 military transport plane crashed in an agricultural zone with no
residents.
