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… World News Summaries.
(Newser)
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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.
