102 Die as Algerian Flight Crashes After Takeoff

An Air Algerie passenger jet with one of its engines ablaze crashed shortly after takeoff Thursday deep in the Sahara desert and 102 people were killed, officials said. One young soldier survived.

The Boeing 737, Flight 6289, crashed after taking off from Tamanrasset bound for Algiers, the Algerian capital, 1,000 miles to the north.

“There was a mechanical problem on takeoff,” airline spokesman Hamid Hamdi said. “There is no element that leads us to think there was a terrorist attack.”

Witnesses at the Tamanrasset airport and airline officials said one of the plane’s two engines caught fire as it was taking off.

APS, Algeria’s official state-run news agency, and airline officials at the scene said 102 people had been killed.

“Unfortunately, we know only of one survivor,” said Hamdi, identifying him as a young Algerian soldier who was in critical condition.

Algeria, an oil- and gas-rich nation in North Africa, has been torn by a decade-long insurgency by Islamic militants that has left tens of thousands dead.

Seven French citizens were among the 97 passengers, APS reported. Hamdi said he knew of six Europeans aboard. The remaining passengers and six crew members were Algerian.