At least 257 people died when a Algerian Military Ilyushin IL-76 transport plane crashed outside the capital Algiers on Wednesday morning, local time.

The four engined military transport plane crashed shortly after take off from the Boufarik military air base in the southwest of the capital into a agricultural field.

On board was Algerian military soldiers along with 10 crew members.


The Air Force plane was bound for Bechar, Algeria, near the Moroccan border, with a stop in Tindouf, the military said.

Algerian Air Force reportedly operates 13 of these Soviet era cargo planes. The aged fleet acquired in 1989 and 1993, were overhauled by Ilyushin in 2015.