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Fate of crew unknown as US plane crashes in Kyrgyzstan Fate of crew unknown as US plane crashes in Kyrgyzstan
(about 4 hours later)
A US military refuelling plane has crashed in northern Kyrgyzstan. A search is under way for the three crew of a US military refuelling plane that crashed in northern Kyrgyzstan.
The US transit centre at Manas airport confirmed the KC-135 Stratotanker had come down. The status of its crew and cause of the crash were not known. The KC-135 Stratotanker disappeared off the radar near Chaldovar village, some 160km (100 miles) west of the base near Bishkek from where it took off.
The plane disappeared off the radar near the village of Chaldovar, some 160km (100 miles) west of Manas and close to the border with Kazakhstan. Witnesses said they saw the plane, believed to have been laden with fuel at the time, explode in mid-air.
Witnesses said they saw an explosion and heard a boom, and that wreckage was scattered across a wide area. The wreckage is scattered across a wide area. US officials said: "The status of the crew is unknown".
Kyrgyz media quoted some witnesses as saying they saw at least one pilot escape the burning plane - one report said by ejector seat - but these accounts have not been substantiated.
Contentious airbase
Kyrgyz officials said the plane had taken off from the US transit centre at Manas international airport, near Bishkek, with some 70 tonnes of fuel on board.
It crashed at around 15:00 local time (09:00 GMT).
"I was working with my father in the field, and I heard an explosion. When I looked up at the sky I saw the fire. When it was falling, the plane split into three pieces," resident Sherikbek Turusbekov was quoted by the Associated Press as saying."I was working with my father in the field, and I heard an explosion. When I looked up at the sky I saw the fire. When it was falling, the plane split into three pieces," resident Sherikbek Turusbekov was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.
One local news agency, 24.kg, quoted witnesses as saying the plane had hit a high-voltage power transmission line before it crashed, and quoted a local official as saying the pilots had ejected from the plane. Neither report has been confirmed. In a statement, the US transit centre confirmed the crash and said "emergency response crews are on the scene". "The cause of the crash is under investigation," the statement added.
The wreckage is reported to be scattered across a wide area of mountainous terrain, which is hampering the rescue effort and investigation. An unnamed defence official in Washington told the Associated Press that the plane was on a refuelling mission to Afghanistan at the time.
"Emergency services are on scene. The status of the crew is unknown," the US transit centre said in a statement. It did not specify how many people were on board, but the KC-135 is thought to carry around three crew members. The scene of the crash was being guarded overnight, and officials said a search for the missing crew members would resume in the morning.
It is not clear where the plane was heading but the transit centre at Manas International Airport outside Bishkek is used by the US military to maintain its operations in Afghanistan. The base at Manas has been used by the US military since 2001 as a hub for its operations in Afghanistan.
The United States is leasing the facility for $60m a year and wants to extend the lease beyond its end date of June 2014. Kyrgyzstan is reluctant to extend the lease, saying the presence of the base is a threat to its security.
Seven crew members died when a US civilian Boeing 747 cargo plane crashed at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan on Monday.Seven crew members died when a US civilian Boeing 747 cargo plane crashed at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan on Monday.