Four Moldovans were killed and two others were injured when a propeller-engine cargo plane crashed into the sea near the international airport in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan on October 14, the Ivorian security minister said.
The crash occurred during a storm with heavy rain and lightning and rescuers were hampered by rough seas.
Four French citizens also survived the crash but were injured, Sidiki Diakite told reporters at the scene of the accident. Several Ivorian security sources said they were French soldiers.
The sources said the the plane was a Russian-made Antonov and had been chartered by the French army as part of the antimilitant Operation Barkhane, under which France maintains a 4,000-man mission in the region.
The operation aims to shore up fragile sub-Saharan countries against Islamist militants who have carried out a wave of bombings, shootings, and kidnappings.
The French military base in Abidjan provides logistical support for the operation, which is headquartered in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad.
