ALGIERS – A military transport plane carrying members of the Algerian armed forces and their relatives crashed into a mountain on Tuesday, Feb. 11, killing 77 people, the worst air disaster in the North African country in a decade.

State television showed footage of the wreckage of the plane near the village of Ouled Gacem in eastern Algeria. Smoke was rising from the site, and emergency crews were scouring the forested area for survivors and bodies.

“I saw the military plane crashing, and it was cut into two pieces,” Mohamed, a fireman told Reuters at Ouled Gacem in Oum El Bouaghi province, 300 miles east of the capital Algiers.

Colonel Lahmadi Bouguern told the APS state news agency that 99 passengers and four crew were on board the C-130 Hercules transport plane, which took off from the southern Tamanrasset province and was bound for Constantine.

The Defense Ministry said 77 people were killed and said the crash was likely due to bad weather. Initial reports in Algerian media had put the death toll at 103.

“The plane crashed into a mountain and exploded. Several bodies were burnt to ashes and could not be identified,” one official told Reuters by telephone from the area.

State television said President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had declared three days of mourning.