Indian among seven killed in Iraq plane crash

An Indian national was among seven persons killed when a Soviet-built cargo plane crashed near the Iraqi city of Fallujah, according to an official statement in Moscow.

An Indian national was among seven persons killed when a Soviet-built cargo plane crashed near the Iraqi city of Fallujah, according to an official statement in Moscow on Saturday.

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"According to available information, on November 13 an An-12 cargo aircraft owned by British Gulf International Co Ltd crashed near the city of Fallujah to the west of Baghdad," the Russian foreign ministry said.

Three Russians were among the dead, it said.

"Six crew and a passenger died, including three Russian nationals. The other casualties were one Belarusian, two Ukrainians and one Indian, all members of a mixed crew," the statement said.

The Russian Embassy in Iraq was in close contact with the officials of the company, Iraqi government and the US-led multinational force to find all the details of the crash.

A US army spokesman had earlier said the crash was due to technical reasons. However, local RBC Business TV did not rule out "human error".

British Gulf International is a Russian-owned air cargo transportation company with its headquarters at Sharjah.