Algerian transporter crashes - more than 200 dead

An Algerian Air Force Ilyushin-76TD military transport plane has crashed with more than 200 passengers and crew believed dead.

It crashed minutes after taking off from the military base in Boufarik, 50km south of the capital Algiers. The plane crashed onto a farm field and instantly caught fire.
It is believed to have been flying to Bechar in the country’s southwest via Tindouf.
According to the Algerian Civil Defense Department there are 26 members of the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which presses for the independence of Western Sahara, an area Morocco regards as its territory, among the dead.
Algeria’s Deputy Defense Minister, Ahmed Gaid Salah, has arrived at the crash scene and investigators begin their work on explaining the cause of the crash.