Moroccan military plane crash claims 78 lives

At least 78 people were killed when a Moroccan military transport plane crashed into a mountain in the south of the country during bad weather, the military said.

The military said there were three injured survivors so far from the crash, which happened when a Hercules C-130 aircraft tried to land in Guelmim, having flown north from the disputed Western Sahara territory.

The crash is Morocco’s worst known air disaster since 1973, when 105 people were killed after a Royal Air Maroc aircraft crashed near the capital Rabat.

A resident in the Guelmim area said there was thick fog in at the time of the crash, which occurred at 8am GMT some 730km south of Rabat.

“The crash, due to bad weather conditions, caused 78 deaths and (left) three seriously wounded,” Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces said in a statement.

Sixty soldiers, 12 civilians and nine crew members were on board at the time of the crash.

The three survivors and 42 bodies recovered so far have been taken to the nearby military hospital

In a letter addressed to relatives of the victims, King Mohammed — who heads the army — said he was “deeply moved by this painful accident.”

The plane had been travelling from the city of Dakhla and was due to travel on to Kenitra, 40km north of the capital, Rabat.