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At least 257 Algerian military personnel died after a military plane crashed near a military base outside the capital, state news agency APS said on Wednesday.

The aircraft is an Ilyushin II-76, a military source told AFP.

Witnesses at the scene reported thick black smoke rising from the wreckage of the plane which crashed in a field near the Boufarik airbase.

Hundreds of ambulances and dozens of fire trucks with their sirens wailing rushed to the scene.

Algerian state television confirmed at least 257 passengers, mostly military personnel, died in the crash.In February 2014, 77 people died when a military plane carrying army personnel and family members crashed between Tamanrasset in southern Algeria and the eastern city of Constantine.

The C-130 Hercules transport aircraft came down in the mountainous Oum El Bouaghi region.

In July 2014 an Air Algerie passenger plane flying from Burkina Faso to Algiers crashed in northern Mali, killing all 116 people on board including 54 French nationals.