Military plane crash in Mauritania kills 7

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) — Seven people were killed in Mauritania on Thursday in the crash of a military plane chartered by a Canadian mining company to transport gold, an aviation official said.

The plane caught fire shortly after taking off from an airstrip in Nouakchott, the West African nation's capital. The pilot attempted to return to the runway but failed to reach it, said the official affiliated with Mauritania's flight control agency.

The military crew members, custom officials and contractors working for a Canadian mining company aboard died on the spot. All of them were citizens of Mauritania, the official added. He declined to be named in line with department policy.

He said the plane was bound for the Tasiast gold mine some 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of the capital. It is owned by Canada's Kinross Gold Corporation.

The company said the YAK-12 plane was chartered to bring gold back from the mine to the capital and had no gold aboard at the time of the accident. In a statement, the company said those killed were the two pilots, two custom officials and three of the firm's security personnel contractors.

The Mauritanian official, however, said earlier that three military crew members, two custom officials and two of the mining company's employees were killed.

Link to news: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-07-12/military-plane-crash-in-mauritania-kills-7