Spanish Air Force Plane Crashes Off West Africa; 18 Dead
MADRID — A Spanish air force passenger plane crashed Friday off the coast of the West African nation of Equatorial Guinea, killing all 18 people aboard, Spanish authorities said.
Among the victims were four Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries and the four children of Equatorial Guinea’s education minister.
The twin-engine Spanish-built Aviocar plane plunged into the sea seconds after taking off from the city of Bata on the Atlantic coast and sank in about 12 feet of water, a Spanish air force statement said.
Fourteen of the victims were Spaniards, including the three-man air force crew, Spain’s Foreign Ministry said.
The plane was heading to the capital city of Malabo, on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, when it crashed. An air force spokesman said a technical team was to leave late Friday for Equatorial Guinea to investigate the accident.
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