Pilots killed in Vietnam military jet crash

A Vietnamese MiG-21 fighter jet crashed on Thursday in the north of the country, killing the two pilots, a military source said.

A Vietnamese MiG-21 fighter jet crashed on Thursday in the north of the country, killing the two pilots, a military source said.

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"The accident occurred around 14:00 after a very strong explosion," the officer from the Yen Bai provincial military command, 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Hanoi, told AFP.

"Two pilots were killed in the crash and there were no other victims on the ground," said the officer, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Military authorities were investigating to determine the cause of the explosion and the identity of the victims.

The Soviet-built MiG-21 was widely used by the North Vietnamese air force during the war against the US-backed South, which ended in 1975.