‘Seven survive’ aircraft crash in Afghanistan

At least seven soldiers survived the crash of a military transport plane in Afghanistan tonight, US military officials said.

Ten people were on board the Air Force MC-130 when it crashed in eastern Afghanistan.

A statement from US Central Command said seven suffered minor injuries and ‘‘the status of the other three has yet to be determined’’.

The seven survivors, whose injuries ranged from a broken leg to cuts and bruises, were flown to a US base at Kandahar for treatment, the statement said.

The plane crashed on takeoff at about 9.30pm local time (about 1700 Irish time) near the Bande Sardeh dam in Paktika province, the Pentagon said.

The crash did not appear to have been caused by hostile fire, the statement said. An investigation was under way.

The MC-130 is a version of the propeller-driven C-130 cargo plane outfitted for special forces missions such as refuelling helicopters and taking commandos into hostile territory.

A dozen US soldiers supporting the war in Afghanistan have been killed in plane or helicopter crashes. On January 9, seven Marines were killed when their KC-130 crashed into a mountain in Pakistan. The KC-130 is the refuelling tanker version of the C-130.