30 Reported Killed In Iraq Plane Crash

(RFE/RL) January 9, 2007 -- A cargo plane carrying workers from Turkey to Iraq crashed outside the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, today, killing at least 30 people.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry's press service reported that at least two people survived the crash with injuries.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the Moldova-registered Antonov-26 plane had taken off from the southern Turkish city of Adana early this morning and crashed near the airport in the town of Balad, north of Baghdad, as it made a second attempt to land in heavy fog.

Adana Mayor Cahit Kirac told CNN Turk television that the plane was carrying 29 Turks, one U.S. citizen, and a crew comprising one Russian, one Ukrainian, and three Moldovans.

It remains unclear what caused the plane to crash. The U.S. military, which controls Iraqi air space, declined to comment.

(AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)