Algerian military plane crash kills 257 people
- 6 years ago
At least 257 people on board an Algerian military plane have been killed after it crashed near the country's capital on Wednesday.
The plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Boufarik air base, located west of Algiers and was heading to Tindouf on the border with Western Sahara.
Wednesday's crash is said to be the deadliest in the world since 2014 when 298 people on board a Malaysian Airlines flight died after it was shot down over eastern Ukraine.
Most of the dead were military personnel and their families, as well as Western Saharan refugees.
The government has declared three days of national mourning.
The plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Boufarik air base, located west of Algiers and was heading to Tindouf on the border with Western Sahara.
Wednesday's crash is said to be the deadliest in the world since 2014 when 298 people on board a Malaysian Airlines flight died after it was shot down over eastern Ukraine.
Most of the dead were military personnel and their families, as well as Western Saharan refugees.
The government has declared three days of national mourning.