CAIRO - Five crew members died when a Ukrainian cargo plane crashed during takeoff, burst into flames and slid down the runway on Friday in the popular Egyptian tourist city of Luxor, officials said.
The plane was in the process of lifting off from the tarmac when it "slammed to the ground" and caught on fire, Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Ahmad Shafiq said in a statement. The plane then slid off the tarmac and came to rest hundreds of yards from the runway where it was consumed in flames, he said.
The cargo plane, which had landed in Luxor to refuel, had a full tank, and this could have contributed to the fire, Shafiq said.
The Russian-made Antonov An-12 cargo plane was traveling from Entebbe, Uganda to Ukraine when it stopped in Luxor, said an Egyptian aviation official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The official said Egyptian fire engines rushed to the aircraft, but the fire had swept through the plane too quickly. He said the incident did not affect operations at the rest of the airport in Luxor, which is famous for its ancient Egyptian temples and tombs.
The bodies of the five crew members and the plane's black box data recorder were recovered, the minister said.
The crew included one person from Russia, two from Belarus and two from Ukraine, said the consul at the Ukrainian Embassy in Cairo, Andriy Panagushyn. He said he did not know what cargo the plane was carrying.
Egyptian authorities have begun gathering pieces of the incinerated wreckage and are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the crash, Shafiq said.
Egyptian authorities are working with the Ukrainian Embassy to arrange for the bodies to be returned to their home countries.
