<p>The number of people believed to have died in an Algerian military plane crash on Wednesday has risen to 257, according to state TV.<br /><br />The cause of the crash was unclear, and an investigation has been opened, according to a Defense Ministry statement.</p>.<p>Emergency services converged on the area near the Boufarik military base after the crash.</p>.<p>"There are more than 100 deaths. We can't say exactly how many at this point," Mohammed Achour, chief spokesman for the civil protection agency, told The Associated Press.</p>.<p>He said the plane was carrying soldiers. The Defense Ministry did not provide a death toll but expressed condolences to the victims' families.</p>.<p>The flight had just taken off from Boufarik, about 30 kilometres southwest of the capital Algiers, for a military base in Bechar in southwest Algeria, Achour said.</p>.<p>It was scheduled to make a layover in Tindouf in southern Algeria, home to many refugees from neighbouring Western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Morocco.</p>.<p>The Soviet-designed Il-76 military transport plane crashed in an agricultural zone with no residents, Achour said.</p>
<p>The number of people believed to have died in an Algerian military plane crash on Wednesday has risen to 257, according to state TV.<br /><br />The cause of the crash was unclear, and an investigation has been opened, according to a Defense Ministry statement.</p>.<p>Emergency services converged on the area near the Boufarik military base after the crash.</p>.<p>"There are more than 100 deaths. We can't say exactly how many at this point," Mohammed Achour, chief spokesman for the civil protection agency, told The Associated Press.</p>.<p>He said the plane was carrying soldiers. The Defense Ministry did not provide a death toll but expressed condolences to the victims' families.</p>.<p>The flight had just taken off from Boufarik, about 30 kilometres southwest of the capital Algiers, for a military base in Bechar in southwest Algeria, Achour said.</p>.<p>It was scheduled to make a layover in Tindouf in southern Algeria, home to many refugees from neighbouring Western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Morocco.</p>.<p>The Soviet-designed Il-76 military transport plane crashed in an agricultural zone with no residents, Achour said.</p>