Algerian C-130 Hercules carrying soldiers and families crashes, killing 77 people

Transport plane carrying military personnel and their relatives crashes in mountainous area in eastern Algeria, killing at least 77 people. Gavino

SEVENTY-seven people died when a military aircraft crashed in Algeria and just one survived, the defence ministry said, adding that they accounted for all 78 people on board.


“The crash left 77 people dead and one seriously injured survivor, who was taken to the Constantine region military hospital,’’ said a ministry statement carried by the national APS news agency.

The ministry said that they accounted for all 74 passengers and four crew on board, far fewer than the 103 people originally reported to be travelling on the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.
No explanation was immediately given for the discrepancy.

Desperate effort ... a man watches rescue workers working at the wreckage of Algerian military transport aircraft after it slammed into a mountain in the country’s rugged eastern region. 

Commander Farid Nechad, who is based in Algiers, said 55 bodies have been recovered so far from the crash and everyone besides the survivor is presumed dead.

The state news agency said the plane was flying from the far southern city of Tamanrasset to the eastern city of Constantine, and it crashed near the town of Ain Kercha in the province of Oum El Bouaghi.

Disaster ... the wreckage of the plane.

 

Civil defence officials on the scene told journalists that women and children were among the dead at the snowy crash site about 50km south of Constantine, Algeria’s main eastern city.
The C-130, built by Lockheed, could be seen broken into three parts.

Colonel Lahmadi Bouguern, spokesman for the eastern military region, told the state news agency the crash was caused by a lack of visibility and the strong winds that have buffeted the region the past few days.

Helpless ... people watch rescue workers working at the wreckage of an Algerian military transport aircraft.

 

Winds were 17-28 knots at the time, according to the aviation-safety.net website.

The worst plane crash in Algerian history occurred in 2003, when 102 people were killed after a civilian airliner crashed at the end of the runway in Tamanrasset.

In November 2012, an Algerian military cargo plane crashed in southern France, killing all six people aboard.

Shocking ... people look at the wreckage of Algerian military transport plane after it slammed into a mountain in Algeria’s rugged eastern region.

Little hope ... ambulances drive near the site where the Algerian military transport aircraft slammed into a mountain.