AFP,
A French airforce plane conducting a parachute exercise in the Pyrenees mountains crashed Wednesday, killing its four-person crew and at least one of the paratroopers it had been carrying, officials said.
A search was underway for another two paratroopers who were missing after the impact, in a remote area on the southern face of the Pioulou peak in the Vicdessos valley, close to the border with Spain.
Police and the defence ministry said five bodies had been found inside the charred carcass of the plane, a Spanish-built, two-propeller CASA-235 which can carry up to 40 passengers.
Earliers official tolls had spoken of up to seven dead.
President Jacques Chirac issued a statement extending his condolences to the families. “This accident is a tragic reminder of the tough demands of the military career and the risks that it incurs,” he said.
According to the defence ministry, the plane had taken off from a military base in the southwestern city of Toulouse.
Nine paratroopers had jumped from the aircraft just before it smashed into the mountain, it said. There was no immediate explanation for the accident, and weather conditions were good at the time, it added.
The French airforce uses 20 CASA-235s for troop transport.
According to the website of the Aviation Safety Network, the same type of aircraft has been involved in seven other crashes around the world since 1992. Four of them were used by the Turkish military.
