Afghan minister dies in Pakistan plane crash

A chartered plane carrying Afghan Mines and Industries Minister Juma Mohammad Mohammadi and seven others has crashed into the…

A chartered plane carrying Afghan Mines and Industries Minister Juma Mohammad Mohammadi and seven others has crashed into the Arabian Sea off Pakistan's southern coast.

Afghanistan's presidential palace confirmed Mr Mohammadi and three other Afghan officials were killed in the crash.

Pakistan Naval staff carry a body of a plane crash victim at a naval base in Karachi today.

The wreckage of the Cessna 402-B plane, which took off from Karachi in clear weather this morning, was found in the ocean west of the city, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said.

Five bodies have been recovered and a sixth body was "in the process" of being recovered, a Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman said.

READ MORE

"It's an unfortunate accident, the government of Pakistan has expressed its full grievances to the people of Afghanistan on this sad tragedy," he said.

Mr Mohammadi and his colleagues were travelling to the southwest province of Baluchistan to view copper, silver and gold mines run by a Chinese firm called Metallurgic Construction Company Resource Development Ltd.

AFP