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Algerian Air Force transport plane crashes killing 181

The plane crashed minutes after taking off from the airdrome of a military base in Boufarik, 50 south of the capital Algiers

© ALG24 via AP

CAIRO, April 11. /TASS/. An Ilyushin-76TD military transport plane of the Algerian Air Force crashed on Wednesday killing 181, the Al-Jazeera television channel quotes the Algerian Civil Defense Department as saying.

Among the victims there were 26 members of the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which presses for the independence of Western Sahara, an area Morocco regards as its territory.

An Algerian Air Force plane en route from Boufarik via Tindouf to Bechar in the country’s southwest, crashed minutes after taking off from the airdrome of a military base in Boufarik, 50 south of the capital Algiers. The plane crashed onto a farm field and instantly caught fire.

Algeria’s National Defense Ministry has confirmed the loss of the transport plane.

Deputy Defense Minister Ahmed Gaid Salah has arrived at the crash scene. A probe is underway.

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