257 Killed When Military Plane Crashes in Algeria

More than 300 emergency workers are at the scene near Algiers
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 11, 2018 6:03 AM CDT
257 Killed When Military Plane Crashes in Algeria
Firefighters and soldiers are visible at the scene of a fatal military plane crash near Boufarik military base near the Algerian capital, Algiers.   (ALG24 via AP)

Algeria's defense ministry says 257 people died when a military plane crashed soon after takeoff in a farm field in northern Algeria on Wednesday, per the AP. The Soviet-designed Il-76 military transport plane had departed Boufarik air base, 20 miles southwest of the capital Algiers, for a military base in Bechar in southwest Algeria, a civil protection agency rep tells the AP. Another rep, who initially gave the "provisional" death toll as 181, says some passengers were "extracted with deep burns caused by the fuselage catching fire" and more than 300 emergency workers are working at the scene, per the AP. Footage showed thick black smoke coming off the field, as well as ambulances and Red Crescent vehicles at the site. The defense ministry says an investigation is underway. (More plane crash stories.)

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