7 killed in Mauritanian military plane crash

Seven people were killed Thursday when a military plane crashed during takeoff in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, an army source told AFP.The plane crashed near a residential zone. Three of the victims are soldiers, two customs officials and two civilians, whose nationality is not yet known, the military source said on condition of anonymity. The Mauritanian News Agency AMI reported four soldiers and three civilians had been killed in the crash. The cause of the accident was not known. The army source described the plane as "an old, renovated DC3" which was headed for the Taziast gold mine 400km (250 miles) north-east of Nouakchott "as part of a transport contract" between the army and Canadian mine firm Kinross. Boeing's website describes its Douglas DC3 plane, which first flew in 1935 and was widely used during World War II, as the plane which made air transportation profitable and "the greatest airplane of its time." Witnesses told AFP that the fire brigade was urgently dispatched to put out a blaze after the crash, however journalists were being refused access to the scene.