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I was saved by my neighbors who cleared the rubble with their bare hands,” said Fatna Bechar.

I was saved by my neighbors who cleared the rubble with their bare hands,” said Fatna Bechar in Moulay Brahim.

The story about Figuig hit me because I distinctly remember it capturing my imagination on a stunning train trek from Oran to Bechar a few years ago.

The Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76 was headed to the southwestern city of Bechar carrying Algerian military personnel and passengers, including a group linked to the separatist Polisario Front that is seeking independence from Morocco for the Western Sahara region.

Officials said the military plane was headed to Bechar in the southwest of the country, but was scheduled to stop in Tindouf, an area on Algeria’s border with the disputed territory of Western Sahara.