Algeria: National carrier suffers first crash since its formation
An Air Algeria passenger plane crashed on take-off yesterday, killing more than 100 people.
According to an airline spokesman, the Boeing 737 crashed while taking off from Tamanrasset airport on a flight to the capital Algiers, around 1,000 miles to the north.
Eye witnesses said one of the plane’s engines caught fire and the jet crashed at the end of the runway, bursting into flames shortly afterwards; it was the first time one of the airline’s planes had crashed since the carrier was formed in 1953.
There were thought to be 97 Algerian passengers and six crew on board, with seven French nationals also on the flight. There was just one survivor.
