At least 257 people on board an Algerian military plane have been killed after it crashed near the country's capital on Wednesday. <br /> The plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Boufarik air base, located west of Algiers and was heading to Tindouf on the border with Western Sahara. <br />Wednesday's crash is said to be the deadliest in the world since 2014 when 298 people on board a Malaysian Airlines flight died after it was shot down over eastern Ukraine. <br />Most of the dead were military personnel and their families, as well as Western Saharan refugees.<br />The government has declared three days of national mourning. <br />
