44 Killed in Crash of Soviet-Built Transport Plane in Mozambique

MAPUTO, Mozambique —  A Mozambican air force transport plane crashed on takeoff and burned, killing 44 people including a woman who played a major role in the country’s fight for independence, the government reported Monday.

Three Soviet crewmen were among those killed in the crash of the twin-turboprop Antonov 26 on Sunday in Pemba on the northern coast, according to the official Mozambican News Agency, which called it the nation’s worst air disaster since independence from Portugal 11 years ago. The Soviet-built plane was headed for Maputo, 1,000 miles to the southwest.

The agency said that Maria Chipande, wife of Defense Minister Alberto Chipande, was among the victims. She was a founding member of the Mozambique Liberation Front, which fought Portuguese colonial rule and became Frelimo, the ruling party, after independence.

Also among the dead were three district administrators in Cabo Delgado, the northernmost of Mozambique’s 10 provinces, a female member of Parliament and three regional party officials, the news agency said.

Five Survived

Five people survived the crash but all were seriously injured, according to the news agency.

The agency said the cause of the crash appeared to be engine trouble and that there was no indication of sabotage or military attack.

Rebels of the Mozambique National Resistance conduct hit-and-run raids in several provinces against the pro-Soviet, Marxist government of President Samora M. Machel.

The agency said the plane crashed a few hundred yards from the end of the runway. Seconds before the crash, the crew radioed the control tower to report engine problems and say they would try to land.

Mozambique declared today a day of national mourning, the agency said, and the air force commander, Maj. Gen. Antonio Hama Thai, was named to head an inquiry.