Scores killed in Moroccan plane crash

27/07/2011| IslamWeb

A Moroccan military transport aircraft has crashed in the south of the country, killing 78 passengers and severely wounding three.

The plane, a Hercules C-130, crashed into a mountain near the town of Guelmine on Tuesday.

A resident in the area told Reuters news agency that there was thick fog in the area at the time of the crash, which occurred at 9am (0800 GMT) some 730km south of Rabat.

The military said that 60 soldiers, 12 civilians and nine crew members were on board at the time of the crash.

The official MAP news agency said that the plane had been travelling from the Western Saharan city of Dakhla and was due to travel on to Kenitra, 40km north of the capital, Rabat.

Morocco's most recent plane crash was in 1994 when all 44 passengers and crew members aboard a Royal Air Maroc aircraft died in a crash near the southwestern city of Agadir.

PHOTO CAPTION

Map of Morocco locating the town of Guelmine

Al-Jazeera