12 Die as Army Plane hits City

[Gunship]

:sad:



A military plane crashed in a residential area west of Algiers on Monday, killing at least 17 people, rescue workers said.

The C130 Hercules transport slammed into a house in the neighborhood of Beni Mered shortly after takeoff from the Boufarik military airport, 40km west of the capital.

Among the dead were two women and three children inside the home, as well as four crew members, rescue workers told The Associated Press.

Five people were injured. Police and rescuers rushed to the scene and evacuated the injured to regional hospitals for treatment.

It was not immediately clear whether human error, technical problems or weather were to blame. Witnesses told the AP they saw an engine on fire upon take-off.

In March, an Air Algerie passenger jet crashed and killed 102 people in the Sahara Desert. The crash was state-run Air Algerie's first since its founding in 1953, and the lack of experience in coping with airline accidents hampered rescue efforts.
:sad:

[Southernstar]

It seems that the death toll has risen to 17 people.

Apparently it was a test flight following major repair.

[Cave Troll]

Heard it was an airforce C130 with seven crew doing training.

[Gunship]

"The crash was like an earthquake. I think most of the victims were boys playing football just near the houses," said eyewitness Tewfik Tchanmtchane. "I saw fire from the aircraft before it crashed," he said.

The commander of the nearby Boufarik military air base told reporters a technical failure caused the crash of the Hercules aircraft, which was on a training flight from the base.

'The crash was like an earthquake'
"According to preliminary information, the crash was due to a technical hitch. Our pilots are highly skilled," General Mohammed Hammadi said, standing next to the charred wreckage.

He said 15 people had been confirmed dead, including four crew members. Hospital and military officials said seven of the dead were children.

The transport plane plunged into the small town of Beni Mered, about 30km south of the capital on the Mediterranean coast.

"They (bodies) are all burned," a dirt-covered rescue official said.

The Hercules C130 transport plane, carrying no cargo, crashed 50 minutes after take-off from Boufarik, Hammadi said. The Hercules is popular among armed forces around the world and is also used by organisations such as the United Nations.

Seven homes were burnt and partially destroyed.

The death toll would have been higher had the plane directly plunged into buildings. First it hit an electricity post, then the sides of several buildings before coming to a halt between two buildings.

A man living a few hundred metres from the crash site told Algerian state news agency APS: "We heard an enormous explosion and then a huge fire (erupted) near the house with lots of blackish smoke."

A commission had been set up to investigate the crash, Hammadi said.

:ooh: Two black boxes have been recovered. :bored:

[Cardinal Puff]

"Our pilots are highly skilled," General Mohammed Hammadi said, standing next to the charred wreckage.


Jeeeezzzzzz, boet......