More than 30 dead in Moroccan plane crash

More than 30 people were killed on Tuesday when a Moroccan military plane slammed into a mountainside near Guelmim in the south of the country, the interior ministry and a local official said. "There were more than 30 dead on the aircraft, which was carrying 73 people, mostly soldiers. For the moment, we have found five survivors," the local source told AFP, asking not to be named. The Hercules C-130 aircraft crashed into a mountain close to Guelmim, a town known as "the gateway to the desert" about 830 kilometres (215 miles) south of Rabat. "The accident took place in a mountainous desert region. The casualty toll is likely to become higher," an interior ministry official contacted by telephone told AFP. "This is a military plane that is used for the transport of troops, but also of their families. It is widely used in the Sahara," the interior ministry official added. "Above all, it was the fog and bad weather conditions that are believed to be behind this accident. But for the moment, we don't have enough information," the source said.