At least 257 people have died after a military plane crashed in northern Algeria, the defense ministry says.

The incident happened soon after the aircraft took off from the Boufarik military airport near the capital Algiers in the morning.

According to the Defense Ministry, most of the dead are army personnel and their families. Ten crew members were also killed

It is not yet clear what caused the crash.

The army's chief of staff has ordered a crash in the scene.

It is the deadliest plane crash since July 2014, when all 298 people on board Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 died when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

It is also the second-deadliest plane crash since 2003.

Country profile
The authorities are working to identify Footage from the scene shows smoke coming off wreckage in a field.

Map of Algeria showing Boufarik near Algiers in the north
Image caption
The plane, an Ilyushin Il-76, was travelling to Bechar in the south-west of the country.

26 members of the Polisario Front, seeking freedom from Morocco for Western Sahara and supported by Algeria.

This is the first major plane disaster in Algeria

Four years ago a plane carrying military personnel and family members crashed in Algeria, killing 77 people