30 dead in plane crash in Iraq -Turk officials

ANKARA, Jan 9 (Reuters) At least 30 people were killed today when their chartered plane crashed while trying to land in foggy conditions in Iraq, Turkish officials said.

The Moldovan Antonov-26, which took off from the Turkish city of Adana early today, had been carrying about 35 people, including 30 construction workers, the officials said.

''The plane came down at about midday Turkish time (1500 hrs) some 2.5 km to the northwest of Balad,'' a Foreign Ministry official told Reuters. He put the death toll at 30 and said two others had been injured.

Turkey's ambassador to Iraq, speaking to CNN Turk television, put the death toll at 32. Adana's governor Cahit Kirac told the same channel that the plane was carrying 29 Turks, one American and a crew comprising one Russian, one Ukrainian and three Moldovans.

Balad is the main US military logistics hub in Iraq about 80 km north of the capital Baghdad. Turkish media had initially reported that the crash occurred in Baghdad.

The plane belonged to Moldova's Aerian Tur Airlines and the workers on board were from Turkish construction company Kulak, the Turkish Foreign Ministry official said.

REUTERS SSC HS1945