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Algerian army plane crashes - scores dead, one survivor | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
An Algerian military transport plane has crashed in mountains in the north-east of the country, killing most of the reported 103 passengers and crew on board. | |
The Hercules C-130 crashed in Oum al-Bouaghi province, en route to Constantine, in bad weather conditions. | |
One survivor has been found and the search continues, emergency official Col Farid Nechad told public radio. | |
The plane is said to have been carrying military personnel and family members. | The plane is said to have been carrying military personnel and family members. |
The survivor is a soldier who is now being treated for head injuries at a military hospital in Algiers, a retired Algerian intelligence official told Associated Press news agency, on condition of anonymity. | |
Women and children were among 77 bodies recovered from the crash site so far. | |
Dozens of rescue workers are said to have reached the scene, despite the mountainous terrain and wintry weather conditions. | |
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika sent his condolences to families of the victims and has decreed three days of national mourning to begin on Wednesday, said state TV. | |
'Storm and snowfall' | |
The plane was carrying 99 passengers - soldiers and their families - as well as four crew members. | |
The plane's original departure point was the Sahara Desert garrison city of Tamanrasset, 1,500km (950 miles) south of Constantine, but it had made a stop in Ouargla. | |
A source told radio station Ennahar - which has close links to the government and army - that contact was lost with the military plane between Oum al-Bouaghi and Constantine, as it may have been starting to make its descent prior to landing. | A source told radio station Ennahar - which has close links to the government and army - that contact was lost with the military plane between Oum al-Bouaghi and Constantine, as it may have been starting to make its descent prior to landing. |
It crashed into Djebel Fertas mountain, some 380km (240 miles) east of the capital Algiers. | |
"Very bad weather conditions, involving a storm and heavy snowfall, were behind the crash," the defence ministry was quoted as saying in a statement. | |
This is the worst plane crash in Algeria for more than 10 years and the third involving an Algerian military Hercules. | This is the worst plane crash in Algeria for more than 10 years and the third involving an Algerian military Hercules. |
An Air Algerie Boeing 737 crashed on take-off from Tamanrasset in 2003, killing all but one of the 103 people on board. | An Air Algerie Boeing 737 crashed on take-off from Tamanrasset in 2003, killing all but one of the 103 people on board. |