Iran condoles with Algeria over tragic plane crash

The Iranian Foreign Ministry in a message on Wednesday offered its condolences to the people and government of Algeria over the death of the country's nationals and military personnel in a recent plane crash. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham voiced Tehran's condolence with the Algerian people and government over the death of a group of Algerians in a military plane which crashed in the Eastern part of the country on Tuesday. In her statement, Afkham also expressed condolences and sympathy with the bereaved families of the victims, and prayed to God for the peace of soul of those killed in the tragic incident. A military transport plane carrying members of the Algerian armed forces and their relatives crashed into a mountain on Tuesday, killing 77 people, the worst air disaster in the North African country in a decade. State television showed footage of the wreckage of the plane near the village of Ouled Gacem in Eastern Algeria, smoke rising from the site and emergency crews scouring the forested area for survivors and bodies. Colonel Lahmadi Bouguern told the APS state news agency that 99 passengers and four crew were on board the C-130 Hercules transport plane, which took off from the Southern Tamanrasset province and was bound for Constantine. The Defense Ministry said 77 people were killed and added that the crash was likely due to bad weather. Initial reports in Algerian media had put the death toll at 103. The crash was the worst in Algeria since 2003 when an Air Algerie jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Tamanrasset, killing 102 people. The Defense Ministry said it had set up a commission to investigate the crash and that army Chief of Staff and Deputy Defence Minister Ahmed Gaid Salah would go to the crash site.