Cargo plane with aid crashes in Somalia, all crew survive

NAIROBI, Kenya – A cargo plane carrying humanitarian food aid crashed at an airport in central Somalia but the crew members survived, officials said Tuesday.

Somalia officials said the plane that crashed in Beledweyne was with the United Nations, but a U.S. Embassy statement in the evening expressed regret for the loss of the food and the plane.

The statement said the flight was part of an effort to provide food aid from neighbouring Djibouti, and it thanked the U.S. Embassy in that country for providing logistical support.

Sabrie Ahmed with the local administration in Beledweyne town told The Associated Press that the plane veered off the runway and crashed onto its belly. It was not clear what caused the plane to lose control.

Ali Jeite Osman, the governor of Hiran region, told reporters that a fire erupted in the plane after the crash but they could not extinguish it as the airport lacked firefighting apparatus.

The U.S, Embassy statement said no one on the ground was injured.

The plane was delivering food aid for people displaced by heavy rains.