At least 257 people are dead after an Algerian military plane crashed just minutes after take-off, killing almost everyone on board in the country's worst air disaster, according to reports.

The transport plane crashed into a field near the Boufarik military airport near the capital Algiers and burst into flames just before 8am local time on Wednesday.

Footage posted online showed a huge plume of smoke rising into the air above the site of the mass tragedy.

Reports said the aircraft was a Russian-made Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane that crashed shortly after taking off on a flight bound for Tindouf in the south-west of the North African country.

The transport plane erupted into flames when it crashed (
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Twitter)
The plane crashed into a field near the Boufarik military airport (
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Twitter)
Rescuers gather around the smouldering wreckage in a field (
Image:
Twitter)

Dozens of emergency response vehicles, including at least 14 ambulances, were sent to the scene in Blida province in northern Algeria, ALG 24 reported.

Rows of white body bags could be seen on the ground next to the smouldering wreckage.

Most of those who were killed were members of the military, the defence ministry said.

Dozens of rescue vehicles rushed to the scene near Algiers (
Image:
Twitter)
Footage posted online showed a huge column of smoke billowing into the air (
Image:
Twitter)

Ten crew members and other people described as family members also died. A number of survivors were being treated at an army hospital, the ministry announced.

The dead included 26 members of Polisario, a group backed by Algeria as it fights for independence of neighbouring Western Sahara. The territory is also claimed by Morocco.

Algeria's Air Force has seen a number of tragedies in recent years.

In February 2014, 76 people were killed when a US-built Lockheed C-130H Hercules transport plane crashed in a mountainous area near Ain Kercha, south of Constantine Airport.

Algeria's Air Force has suffered a number of tragedies in recent years (
Image:
Twitter)

There was just one survivor on the plane which was carrying military families from Tamanrasset to Constantine, according to the Aviation Safety Network.

In November 2012, all six crew and passengers were killed when a Spanish-built CASA C-295M plane crashed into a hillside near Saint-Germain-du-Teil, France.

Five crew members and 10 people on the ground died when a C-130H Hercules' engine caught fire and the plane crashed into houses on the outskirts of nearby Blida in June 2003.

The cause of the crash is under investigation (
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Twitter)

The plane had taken off from the military airport in Boufarik moments earlier.

The Algerian Air Force's fleet includes 14 Ilyushin Il-76 planes, in addition to other aircraft and helicopters built in Russia, the US or Europe.

Wednesday's mass tragedy was one of two fatal crashes involving military aircraft.

In Serbia, an Air Force pilot was killed and a second was injured when a Yugoslav-era Soko G-4 Super Galeb fighter jet crashed near Kovacica, Blic reported.