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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 search is under way for the three crew of a US military refuelling plane that crashed in northern Kyrgyzstan. | |
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. | |
Witnesses said they saw the plane, believed to have been laden with fuel at the time, explode in mid-air. | |
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. |
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. | |
An unnamed defence official in Washington told the Associated Press that the plane was on a refuelling mission to Afghanistan at the time. | |
The scene of the crash was being guarded overnight, and officials said a search for the missing crew members would resume in the morning. | |
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. |