Algeria: 25 bodies of recent military plane crash still unidentified

Well-informed sources told Echorouk that 25 bodies out of the 77 victims of last Tuesday’s military plane crash in the region of Oum El Bouagui in eastern Algeria are yet to be identified through minute and close post-mortem medical examination.

DNA tests are being conducted on each of the remaining badly-burnt bodies for identification purposes at the Ali Mendjeli military hospital of the eastern city of Constantine.

Meanwhile, 52 victims of the recent air crash have already been buried in several cemeteries in various parts of the country. 

The same sources also told Echorouk that the lone survivor of last Tuesday’s air disaster, namely Djelloul Nemiri, is still in a coma but his health condition has shown no further deterioration despite his serious head injuries.

Rescuers still on the crash site are still rummaging through the plane’s wreckage and in the vicinity of the spot of the accident in search for the second plane’s black box in order to determine exactly the causes of the ill-fated crash.

The C-130 Hercules transport plane crashed on Tuesday into Mount Fortas in eastern Algeria, about 300 miles (500 kilometers) from the capital Algiers, killing 77 people on board, including three women and a girl, according to the Defense Ministry.

The sole survivor is a 21-year-old soldier who is in a coma after sustaining head injuries, the ministry said.

Col. Mohammed Lehbiri, the civil defense chief, told the press that all the bodies were recovered at an altitude of 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) with snow on the ground.

“We were able to recover one of the two the black boxes which is in very good condition and contains valuable information for the investigation and will allow us to understand what happened,” he said. The military said the plane crashed around noon Tuesday because of high winds and a snowstorm.