77 dead, 1 survivor in military plane crash in eastern Algeria

A military transport plane carrying members of the ANP armed forces and their relatives crashed into a mountain in eastern Algeria on Tuesday, killing 77 people, according to official sources. Only one passenger reportedly survived and he was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

“The plane crashed into a mountain and exploded. Several bodies were burnt to ashes and could not be identified,” an official said by telephone from Oum El Bouaghi province, about 500km from the capital Algiers.

Colonel Lahmadi Bouguern initially told the APS news agency that 99 passengers and four crew members had been on board the C-130 Hercules but the death toll was “yet to be determined”, adding bad weather and strong winds may have been a factor in the crash.

Meanwhile, a local newspaper reported that one of the plane’s two black boxes had been found.

There have been various reports about the death toll throughout the day.

Another official earlier said one person survived the crash and 53 bodies had been recovered from the plane’s wreckage so far.

The Defense Ministry said it had set up a commission to investigate the crash. “Details will be provided as soon as new information becomes available,” it said.

Army chief of staff and deputy defense minister Ahmed Gaid Salah and other senior army officers rushed to the crash site on Tuesday afternoon, it added.

While extending his heart-felt condolences in a message sent to the victims’ families, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika also declared three days of national mourning starting from Wednesday.

The transport plane took off from Algeria’s southern Tamanrasset province and was bound for the eastern city of Constantine.

If the death toll is confirmed, the crash will be the worst in Algeria since 2003 when an Air Algerie  jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Tamanrasset, killing 102 people.