Nine die as US plane crashes
From correspondents in Tirana
April 02, 2005

ALL nine US military personnel died when their plane crashed in an isolated snow-covered area of Albania, a defence ministry spokesman said today.

"None of the US military personnel has survived the accident late Thursday," said spokesman Agim Doci.
He said that five bodies were found in the wreckage of the C-130 transport plane.

Another four were found early today.The plane hit a mountain after apparently flying too low in an uninhabited region near the town of Gramsh, 150 km south of the Albanian capital Tirana.

An AFP photographer at the scene said wreckage of the plane MC-130H was scattered around the site after the blast that followed the crash.

The plane, which had been in Albania to take part in joint military manoeuvres with Albanian forces, had taken off from Tirana's Rinas military base and was to monitor the mountainous region in the south of the country.

US experts were headed to the scene to investigate the crash.

Earlier today, US ambassador to Albania Marcie Ries thanked the Albanian army for its assistance.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12729497-23109,00.html