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Air crash in NE Algeria kills 77, one survives

12 February 2014 02:06 (UTC +04:00)

A military aircraft carrying 74 passengers -- soldiers and their families -- as well as four crew members crashed in Oum el-Bouaghi province on Tuesday, the ministry said.

The C-130 Hercules aircraft crashed into Mount Fertas at around midday (1100 GMT), an army spokesman was quoted by state media as saying.

Members of emergency services, who rushed to the scene, recovered 76 bodies, including the remains of four women.

"Very bad weather conditions, involving a storm and heavy snowfall, were behind the crash," the Defense Ministry said, adding that around 250 personnel were dispatched to the crash site despite the difficulties.

Earlier reports by security sources and state media said 103 people were on board, a discrepancy the defense ministry did not explain.

According to public radio reports, the lone survivor, who was suffering from head trauma, was taken to a military hospital in the city of Constantine, the aircraft’s original destination in the east of the capital Algiers.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced three days of mourning for the accident, which is one of the country’s deadliest air disasters.

According to reports, one of the plane’s two black box flight recorders was recovered.