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Dozens Said to Die in Algerian Military Plane Crash Dozens Said to Die in Algerian Military Plane Crash
(about 5 hours later)
PARIS — An Algerian military plane believed to be carrying at least 99 members of the military and their families crashed on Tuesday in a remote area of northeastern Algeria, killing everyone on board, according to the Algerian National Radio. It was the first major crash in the country in more than a decade. PARIS — An Algerian military plane crashed in a mountainous area of northeastern Algeria on Tuesday, and by nightfall rescuers had recovered 77 bodies and one survivor, according to Algerian National Television, which reported that as many as 103 people may have been on the flight.
The plane was identified as a Lockheed C-130 Hercules, a widely used American-made military transport aircraft, and the crash site was the mountainous province of Oum El Bouaghi, about 300 miles from Algiers, the country’s capital. The radio broadcast said the crash was believed to have been caused by bad weather, but no further details were immediately provided by Algerian officials. It was the first major crash in the country in more than a decade.
In a statement, the Algerian Ministry of National Defense described the crash as a “tragic accident” and said that the plane, a Lockheed C-130 Hercules, a widely used American-made military transport craft, was carrying members of the military and their families.
The Defense Ministry gave no estimate of the number of passengers on board, but military and intelligence sources reached by Algerian news media said the total was at least 102 including the crew. Some sources suggested it could be higher.
The Associated Press, quoting an unidentified Algerian intelligence official, said four crew members had been aboard.
The crash site was in the mountainous province of Oum El Bouaghi, about 300 miles from Algiers, the country’s capital.
The military’s statement said the plane went down in apparently horrendous weather conditions in which there was a storm and cascading snow, which Algerian aviation experts said most likely led to poor visibility.
The meteorological forecasting service AccuWeather,, in a release detailing the weather at the time of the crash, noted that “an area of low pressure moving through the region was producing widespread showers mixed with snow in the higher terrain of the area.”
Eric Leister, an AccuWeather meteorologist, said, “Along with the rain and snow, wind gusts more than 30 m.p.h. were reported in several locations in the region.”
The plane was en route from the city of Ouargla in the country’s midsection to the northeastern city of Constantine.The plane was en route from the city of Ouargla in the country’s midsection to the northeastern city of Constantine.
The Associated Press, quoting an unidentified Algerian intelligence official in a dispatch from Algiers, said four crew members had also been aboard. The military quickly created a panel to investigate the cause of the crash and sent several military officials to the scene.
The last reported air-crash disaster in Algeria was in 2003, when a Boeing 737 operated by Air Algérie, a commercial airline, crashed shortly after takeoff in Tamanrasset. All but one of the 103 people aboard were killed. One of the plane’s engines failed. As night fell, a search-and-rescue mission was still underway, with Algerian journalists live-blogging news of the recovery of bodies based on phone calls to officials at the scene.
One website, Algérie-Focus, was updating its reports almost every hour, said Abdou Semmar, who runs it.
Photographs and video of the plane on the Internet showed the large windowless craft on its side on a snow-scattered hillside as several men wearing heavy coats and hats walked toward the wreckage. The weather appeared to be quite poor in the video. It was unclear from the photos and video whether the plane had been trying to land when it crashed.
The last reported air disaster in Algeria was in 2003, when a Boeing 737 operated by Air Algérie, a commercial airline, crashed shortly after takeoff in Tamanrasset when one of the plane’s engines failed. All but one of the 103 people aboard were killed.