32 killed in cargo plane crash in Iraq

A cargo plane carrying Turkish construction workers crashed during landing at a foggy airstrip north of Baghdad, killing 32 people and injuring at least one, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Two people were unaccounted for.

Private Turkish news agencies said the plane was trying to land at the U.S. military base in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad. The Foreign Ministry did not say whether the crash was at the base.

An Iraqi security official said the passengers were mostly Turks who worked at the airport in Baghdad. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official said initial reports indicated the plane went down due to bad weather and heavy fog. The official also spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not yet been authorized.

The pilot had aborted an initial attempt to land because of heavy fog, then crashed on a second try, the ministry official said.

The Iraqi official said he did not know the cause of the crash, but that visibility had been poor.

The Russian-made Antonov-26 plane, belonging to the Moldovan Aeriantur M air cargo company, had taken off from Adana in southern Turkey and was carrying mostly workers from the Kulak construction company, the governor of Adana said. The company's owner was among the dead, CNN-Turk television reported.

Phone calls to Kulak's offices in Adana and Ankara went unanswered after the crash.

On board were 35 people: 29 Turks and one American, as well as a crew of five _ three from Moldova and one each from Russia and Ukraine, Gov. Cahit Kirac said.

However, Aeriantur M company director Serghei Caraus said five Moldovans were on the plane.

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Associated Press writers Benjamin Harvey in Istanbul and Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report.