Rescue workers found 77 bodies at the scene of one of Algeria's worst air disasters Tuesday, after a military transport plane carrying troops and family members crashed in the northeast of the country, Algerian state television said.
Only one survivor had been found, an officer from the military's civil protection unit said.
Ennahar TV channel said the survivor was a woman who was rushed to hospital in critical condition. The search for other survivors at the remote crash site in the mountainous Oum El Bouaghi region was continuing.
The Hercules C-130 troop transporter was reported to be carrying 99 passengers and four crew when it crashed just as it was about to start its descent to Constantine airport, about 48 kilometres away.
State radio and television put the number of victims at over 100, but an army officer later told the official APS agency that the plane was carrying 77 people.
Bad weather was believed to have caused the crash. The region has been experiencing strong winds and snowfall.
The aircraft was traveling from the southern desert town of Tamanrasset, according to El Watan newspaper.
A crisis team headed by an air force general was leading the rescue operation.
The accident is one of the deadliest in Algerian aviation history.
In 2003, an Air Algeria passenger plane crashed on takeoff from Tamanrasset airport and burst into flames, killing 102 people.
Last year, an Algerian military cargo aircraft crashed in southern France, killing two soldiers and four civilians.
Tuesday 12 February 2014
http://www.guelphmercury.com/news-story/4362810-one-survivor-77-bodies-found-after-algerian-plane-crash/
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