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Algeria: Plane crash claims 77, 1 survives
Commander Farid Nechad, who was coordinating recovery efforts, told the reporters that 55 bodies had been recovered so far but conditions at the crash site were difficult.
“Unfavorable weather conditions and storms accompanied by snow in the region were behind the crash,” the defense ministry said.
The presidency announced a 3-day period of mourning, calling the soldiers who had died “martyrs for the country.”
Lockheed Martin’s hulking C-130 Hercules transport, born out of the experiences of the 1950-53 Korean War, has been used by air forces all over the world to help fight wars or save lives in humanitarian situations.
Lockheed Martin confirmed that it sold C-130s to Algeria from 1981 to 1990 and said if Algerian authorities asked, the company would work with them to investigate Tuesday’s crash. It did not release specific information on the age of the plane.
In other crashes involving similar planes, six people died in November 2012 when an Algerian Air Force C-130 crashed into a hillside in France, according to the Aviation Safety Network’s database. In 2003, 10 people died when an Algerian Air Force C-130 crashed after an engine caught fire shortly after it took off from an air base near Boufarik, Algeria, according to the database.
The worst plane crash in Algerian history occurred in 2003, when 102 people were killed after a civilian airliner crashed at the end of the runway in Tamanrasset. There was also a single survivor in that crash.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press
