Algerian military plane crash kills 257 people
- 6 years ago
At least two-hundred-57 people on board an Algerian military plane have been killed after it crashed near Algiers on Wednesday.
The incident has raised fresh questions over the North African country's shaky aviation safety record.
Ro Aram reports.
The plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Boufarik air base, located west of Algiers, and witnesses say they saw a wing catch fire shortly after the aircraft took off.
It was heading to Tindouf on the border with Western Sahara.
Most of the dead were military personnel and their families, as well as Western Saharan refugees.
The dead also included 26 members of the Polisario Front, an Algerian-backed group fighting for the independence of neighboring Western Sahara, a territory also claimed by Morocco in a long-running dispute.
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.
An investigation has been launched and it is not yet clear whether the cause was due to safety or mechanical problems, pilot error or interference.
The government has also declared three days of national mourning.
Questions have been raised over Algeria's aviation safety, which has come under scrutiny in recent years for numerous crashes involving military and commercial aircrafts.
The latest plane crash happened four years ago when an Air Algerie flight crashed in northern Mali, killing 116 passengers and crew.
That same year, 77 people on board a military plan died in a mountainous area in eastern Algeria.
Ro Aram, Arirang News.
The incident has raised fresh questions over the North African country's shaky aviation safety record.
Ro Aram reports.
The plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Boufarik air base, located west of Algiers, and witnesses say they saw a wing catch fire shortly after the aircraft took off.
It was heading to Tindouf on the border with Western Sahara.
Most of the dead were military personnel and their families, as well as Western Saharan refugees.
The dead also included 26 members of the Polisario Front, an Algerian-backed group fighting for the independence of neighboring Western Sahara, a territory also claimed by Morocco in a long-running dispute.
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.
An investigation has been launched and it is not yet clear whether the cause was due to safety or mechanical problems, pilot error or interference.
The government has also declared three days of national mourning.
Questions have been raised over Algeria's aviation safety, which has come under scrutiny in recent years for numerous crashes involving military and commercial aircrafts.
The latest plane crash happened four years ago when an Air Algerie flight crashed in northern Mali, killing 116 passengers and crew.
That same year, 77 people on board a military plan died in a mountainous area in eastern Algeria.
Ro Aram, Arirang News.