(MENAFN- Gulf Times) An Algerian military plane crashed outside the capital Algiers yesterday, killing at least 257 people, the Defence Ministry said, in what is believed to be the country's worst aviation disaster.
The dead included 10 crew members, but most were military personnel and their family members, the ministry added in a statement.
The crash occurred in a field in the vicinity of the Boufarik airbase in Blida Province, 45 kilometres south west of Algiers, the ministry said.
The captain of the plane, who was killed in the crash, had saved a nearby residential area from a catastrophe, according to local witnesses.
'I saw the right wing of the plane catching fire as it was flying at a low altitude shortly after its take-off, a witness told private broadcaster Ennahar.
The witness added that the plane was about to plunge into the nearby populous district of Bani Murad or a highway linking the province of Blid to Algiers.
'The captain made a successful manoeuvre by turning the plane towards a farm field where it fell, the unidentified witness added.
There was no official comment on the report.
The cause of the crash remains unclear.
The fatalities also included 30 people from the disputed region of Western Sahara, who had been receiving medical treatment in Algeria, the self-styled Sahara Presidency Office reported.
Algeria backs independence for Western Sahara.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced three days of mourning in the country over the crash, the state news agency APS reported.
He offered condolences to the victims' families, calling the crash a 'grave, heart-breaking calamity.
The plane, a Russian-made Ilyushin Il-76, had been heading for the western city of Bechar, APS added, without giving details.
Algerian army chief-of-staff Ahmed Gaid Salah, who visited the site, has ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the incident.
TV footage showed thick black smoke emanating from the burning plane.
A civil defence spokesman said 60 ambulances, 30 fire engines and 350 firefighters had been dispatched and had managed to control the blaze.
Algeria has seen a series of air crashes in recent years.
In 2003, an airliner of national carrier Air Algerie crashed after one of its engines caught fire following take-off from the southern city of Tamanrasset en route to Algiers, killing 97 passengers and six crew members.
In 2014, a military transport plane slammed into a mountain in Algeria's rugged eastern region, killing 77 people on board.
Bad weather was blamed for that crash.
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