Algiers (Algeria) (AFP) – At least 257 people, mostly soldiers and members of their families, were killed in an Algerian military plane crash Wednesday, the defence ministry said.
The II-76 crashed shortly after take-off from the Boufarik airbase, about 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of the capital Algiers.
The dead include the plane’s 10 crew and 247 passengers, most of them members of the armed forces, the ministry said in a statement.