100 soldiers, 157 others die in military plane crash

Around 100 Algerian military personnel were on board an army plane that crashed on Wednesday near an airbase outside the capital, a military source told AFP.

The aircraft is an Ilyushin II-76, which is capable of carrying around 120 passengers, according to the source, who did not want to be named.

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.