Plane crash in Algeria claims 103 lives

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A military transport plane carrying relatives of members of the armed forces veered off the runway and crashed on take-off in southern Algeria today February 11th, killing all 103 people onboard. The plane was carrying 99 passengers and 4 crew members.   According to reports coming from news agencies in Algeria, the Air Algerie plane, a Boeing 737, which is the country's national airline, crashed after one of its engines caught fire as it took off in the remote city of Tamanrasset in the Sahara Desert.

A spokesman for the airline told AFP that "There was a mechanical problem on take-off". This is the first major accident in the history of Algeria's national airline, set up in 1962.