An Algerian military plane carrying soldiers and their families crashed soon after takeoff Wednesday into a field in northern Algeria, killing 257 people in what appeared to be the North African nation's worst-ever plane crash. Several witnesses told Algerian TV network Ennahar they saw flames coming out of one of the planes' four engines just before it took off. "The plane crashed on its wing first and caught fire." The Algerian military, which historically depended on the Soviet Union and then Russia for military hardware, operates several of the planes. According to Aviation Safety Network, the 2003 crash of an IL-76 of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard killed 275 people.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 11, 2018 08:45 UTC