flyboy2
4th June 2006, 09:29
2006-06-04 08:09:02
A military transport plane carrying 40 people has crashed in eastern China's Anhui province. Beijing - A military transport plane carrying 40 people crashed in eastern China's Anhui province, the government said on Sunday. A local official said at least five people were killed.
Villagers described a chaotic crash scene, with bodies and body parts strewn across a mountain slope where the plane crashed and burned.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday's crash was under investigation, citing a military staffer whose name was not given.
The staffer told Xinhua that 40 people, including "crew members and other people" were on board when the plane went down.
He did not have any information about casualties, Xinhua said.
An official who answered the phone at the Anhui provincial government office said the accident occurred at about 16:00 (08:00 GMT) in Yaocun, a village in Anhui's eastern Guangde county, and that five bodies had been recovered.
The official, who refused to give his name, said it was unclear how many people had been aboard the plane.
Guangde, about 200km southwest of Shanghai, encompasses a handful of low mountain villages famous for producing bamboo furniture.
A villager in Tongkai village, about 5km from the crash site in Yaocun, said many local villagers rushed to the area after hearing an explosion.
The man, who was reached by telephone and would only give his surname, Tang, said the main body of the plane crashed into a mountain, destroying a section of bamboo forest. The tail dropped onto farm fields, he said.
Tang said he went to the mountain site before the area had been cordoned off, and saw two male bodies and numerous body parts strewn about.
A woman from Yaocun village who would only give her surname, Gao, said she rushed to the scene shortly after the crash and saw thick black smoke billowing up from the wrecked plane. She also said she saw two male bodies in civilian, not military clothes, and numerous body parts.
Gao and Tang both said that the area had since been closed off by officials.
A woman who answered the phone at the Guangde county government office said she was unaware of any plane crash. She wouldn't give her name.
A man who answered the phone at the Foreign Affairs office of the Defense Ministry said he had no information about a military plane crash and refused to give his name.
News24/AP
.
A military transport plane carrying 40 people has crashed in eastern China's Anhui province. Beijing - A military transport plane carrying 40 people crashed in eastern China's Anhui province, the government said on Sunday. A local official said at least five people were killed.
Villagers described a chaotic crash scene, with bodies and body parts strewn across a mountain slope where the plane crashed and burned.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday's crash was under investigation, citing a military staffer whose name was not given.
The staffer told Xinhua that 40 people, including "crew members and other people" were on board when the plane went down.
He did not have any information about casualties, Xinhua said.
An official who answered the phone at the Anhui provincial government office said the accident occurred at about 16:00 (08:00 GMT) in Yaocun, a village in Anhui's eastern Guangde county, and that five bodies had been recovered.
The official, who refused to give his name, said it was unclear how many people had been aboard the plane.
Guangde, about 200km southwest of Shanghai, encompasses a handful of low mountain villages famous for producing bamboo furniture.
A villager in Tongkai village, about 5km from the crash site in Yaocun, said many local villagers rushed to the area after hearing an explosion.
The man, who was reached by telephone and would only give his surname, Tang, said the main body of the plane crashed into a mountain, destroying a section of bamboo forest. The tail dropped onto farm fields, he said.
Tang said he went to the mountain site before the area had been cordoned off, and saw two male bodies and numerous body parts strewn about.
A woman from Yaocun village who would only give her surname, Gao, said she rushed to the scene shortly after the crash and saw thick black smoke billowing up from the wrecked plane. She also said she saw two male bodies in civilian, not military clothes, and numerous body parts.
Gao and Tang both said that the area had since been closed off by officials.
A woman who answered the phone at the Guangde county government office said she was unaware of any plane crash. She wouldn't give her name.
A man who answered the phone at the Foreign Affairs office of the Defense Ministry said he had no information about a military plane crash and refused to give his name.
News24/AP
.