Tuesday, July 26, 2011

78 killed in Morocco military plane crash

Rabat (Morocco), July 26 (Reuters): At least 78 people were killed today when a Moroccan military transport plane crashed into a mountain in the south of the country during bad weather, the military said in a statement carried by the state news agency.       
The military said there were three injured survivors so far from the crash, which happened when a C-130 Hercules aircraft was trying to land in Guelmim, having flown north from the disputed Western Sahara territory.       

A resident in the area told Reuters there was thick fog in the area at the time of the crash, which occurred at 0800 GMT some 730km south of Rabat.
“The crash, due to bad weather conditions, caused 78 deaths and (left) three seriously wounded”, Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces said in a statement carried on the official MAP news agency.       
The military said that 60 soldiers, 12 civilians and nine crew members were on board at the time of the crash. The three survivors and 42 bodies recovered so far have been taken to the nearby military hospital, the military said.       
The MAP news agency said that the plane had been travelling from the Western Saharan city of Dakhla and was supposed to travel on to Kenitra, 40km north of the capital, Rabat.

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