Saturday 10 August 2013

Ethiopian Plane Crashes in Mogadishu

Emergency services rescued two crew members and took them to hospital

An Ethiopian military cargo plane has crashed and caught fire on landing at Mogadishu airport in Somalia.

Four of the six crew members onboard the aircraft - carrying equipment for international forces fighting Islamist militants - were killed, sources said.

Cargo items could be heard exploding inside the plane as the fire spread. The airport was closed. The blaze was put out after about two hours.

Ethiopian troops entered Somalia in 2011 to assist African Union forces, reports the BBC.

It is not known yet when the plane got into difficulties, and whether it overshot the runway, or fell short of it.

The aircraft belonged to Ethiopia but it was not immediately clear where it flew from.

Ethiopian troops are not part of the African Union peacekeeping force, supporting the Somali government forces in their fight against the Islamist militia, al-Shebaab, which has been linked to al-Qaeda.

Al-Shebaab militants have shot at planes in the past but not in recent years, the Associated Press news agency reports.

The two crew members injured in the crash are currently receiving medical attention at the African Union hospital in Mogadishu, the AMISOM mission said in a statement.

The crash occurred shortly before 08:00 local time (05:00GMT), AMISOM said. There was no damage to the runway, it added.

"The cause of the incident is yet to be established but investigations are currently under way," AMISOM said

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