ALGIERS (REUTERS) - A cargo plane with six Ukrainians and one Russian on board crashed in Algeria's far south early on Saturday, an Algerian transport ministry official said.

The Ukrainian Antonov-12 plane en route to Equatorial Guinea could have crashed for technical reasons, the official said.

It came down at 2.40am local time (10.40am Singapore time) after taking off from Algeria's Tamanrasset airport and three burnt bodies were found at the crash site, the official added.