The Sun.co.uk
By Neal Baker, Guy Birchall and Sofia Petkar
A military aircraft carrying soldiers and equipment crashed yesterday at an airport near the capital Algiers, killing at least 257 people.
A HORRIFIC military plane crash in Algeria occurred on the morning of April 11 2018, in the country’s worst-ever air disaster.
Here’s what we know about the incident which claimed hundreds of lives in the North African country.
Emergency services stand in shock as the burned-out shell of the Algerian military aircraft continues to smoulder
What caused the military aircraft crash?
The exact cause of the crash has not been established yet but there have been reports the fuselage was ablaze before it hit the ground.
It crashed shortly after taking off from the Boufarik airbase.
Algerian TV station Ennahar reported the plane was a Soviet-era Ilyushin.
Wreckage of the Algerian plane that crashed just after takeoff this morning
The North African country has as dodgy aviation history and in 2014, a Hercules C-130 carrying members of the country’s air force and their families crashed in Algeria’s east, killing 77 people.
The same year, an Air Algérie flight crashed in Mali while flying between Bukina Faso and Algeria, killing all 116 people on board.
Where is Boufarik airbase?
The military aircraft crashed in a fireball just after takeoff from an airport at Boufarik — less than 20 miles from the capital Algiers.
It had been transporting dozens of troops and equipment when it went down at around 8am.
Dozens of bodies were pulled from the wreckage, according to witnesses
All roads around the military airport were closed to help emergency services carry out a desperate rescue mission.
It had been heading to the city of Bechar in in south-western Algeria, according to Algerie Presse service agency.
How many people died in the crash?
State TV confirmed a provisional death toll stands at 257. Earlier, an Algerian military source told local news site Al-Hadath that there were “no survivors”.
Most of the dead are army personnel and their families, according to the country’s defence ministry.
Ten crew members are also confirmed dead.
Passengers from Western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Morocco following Spain’s 1975 withdrawal, 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 confirmed that those killed included 26 Polisario members.
