At least 17 people, including five crew, died when an Algerian military transport plane crashed into houses near Blida, south of the capital, state television said. The crash appeared to have been caused by a "technical problem", the commander of Boufarik military base, Colonel Hammadi, said in a statement broadcast by the television. He said the Hercules C130 aircraft was on a training exercise from the base, 35 kilometers (21 miles) south of the capital, that involved taking off and landing. But after the second takeoff, the plane lost power and crashed. It struck six residential buildings as it headed for the ground, while four others were completely destroyed by the fire the crash unleashed, they added. The wreckage of the aircraft's cabin was now lying between two buildings, locals said. "We heard a huge explosion and then saw a gigantic fire very close to the house," one witness told APS. The burnt bodies of the crew members were pulled out of the plane's debris, which was spread over several hundred square metres (yards), the witness added. The crew had apparently diverted the plane to avoid crashing the Hercules, the world's most widely used tactical and humanitarian relief aircraft, onto the main highway linking Algiers and Blida that runs alongside the Boufarik airbase. Women and children were among those killed on the ground, while others were feared still trapped in the houses hit by the aircraft. Rescue workers and security forces were at the scene, and injured people were being ferried to nearby hospitals, APS said. The Boufarik air base houses most of Algeria's military aircraft. The military has made no comment as to possible causes of the crash. In March, a passenger jet of the national airline Air Algerie crashed shortly after take-off in the Algerian Sahara desert, killing all but one of the 103 people on board. That accident was caused by one of the plane's engines catching fire. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A man looks at the debris of a Hercules military transport plane which crashed in a residential area in Boufarik, Algeria, south of the capital Algiers, Monday, June 30, 2003. (AP Photo)