A British C-130 military transport plane crashed Sunday north of Baghdad, scattering wreckage over a large area, officials said. Up to 15 British troops were killed, Britain's Press Association news agency reported. Earlier, Prime Minister Tony Blair said there were British deaths in the crash, but did not say how many.
The plane was flying from Baghdad to the town of Balad, a U.S. military official said. The crash took place at around 5:25 p.m. about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad, a spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense. British C-130 Hercules planes can carry up to 128 infantry personnel, though the number on the flight was not announced.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash, which occcured about a half hour after polls closed in Iraq's elections.
Blair didn't provide details of the British deaths, but paid tribute to the troops who died in the crash. "This country and the wider world will never forget them," he said in a televised speech praising the election.
