Military flight crashes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 March 2000, 06:54 GMT]
An army flight with 36 Sri Lankan security forces personnel including four junior officers from Jaffna, and four Russian crew members crashed near Anuradhapura, 206 kilometers northeast of Colombo, around 11.40 a.m. this morning army sources in Colombo said. Soldiers wounded in the fighting in Pallai were also on board the flight.

The plane, Russian built AN 26 was flying from Palaly to Colombo when it developed engine trouble and crashed. There were 24 Sri Lanka army personnel, 11 Sri Lanka Navy sailors and a Policeman on the flight a Ministry of Defence spokesman said.

The bodies of the passengers and crew have been removed from the wreckage by rescue teams and taken to the Anuradhapura hospital.

The plane was chartered by the Sri Lankan army for transporting troops a military source said. The plane crashed in Sravastipura in Talawa nine kilometers south of Anuradhapura.

The crew had informed the Sri Lanka airforce flight control tower at Palaly in Jaffna of developing engine trouble ten minutes before the crash army sources said. All on board may have been killed in the crash they added.