At least four people killed as Ethiopian airforce plane for African Union peacekeepers crashlands in Mogadishu.
At least four people have been killed after a military aircraft burst into flames moments after landing at the international airport in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
The victims in Friday's accident were part of the six crew on board.
Sources
said the plane belonged to the Ethiopian airforce and was carrying
weapons and ammunition for AMISOM, the peacekeeping mission in Somalia
run by the African Union.
AMISOM said on Twitter the crash happened shortly before 8am.
"The
[AU] force commander expresses his heartfelt condolences to the
government and the people of Ethiopia following the loss of crew
members," AMISOM tweeted without giving the number of those killed or
injured.
Small blasts could be heard from the
stricken plane and airport workers said they believed they were caused
by exploding ammunition.
"We hear explosions as it burns. It is burning like hell. It is sure
it will end up in ash," one security source at the airport told the
Reuters news agency.
The source said the blaze was so intense firefighting crews were unable to tackle it.
Mucahit
Salih Duran, head of the Turkish Red Crescent delegation in Somalia,
tweeted a photo showing black smoke rising from what appeared to be a
runway.
There was no immediate word on where the aircraft was flying from.
Military aircraft regularly land at Mogadishu's airport, which also
serves as the headquarters for the AU force battling al Qaeda-linked
Islamist fighters called al-Shabab.
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