Equatorial Guinea Crash Toll Is 22

The death toll in the crash of a Spanish air force transport plane off Equatorial Guinea rose to 22 with the recovery of the bodies of all those aboard, Spain’s ambassador to the West African country said Saturday.

The Foreign Ministry initially said 18 people were on the propeller-driven Aviocar plane when it went down in the Atlantic on Friday just after takeoff from Bata airport.

But Ambassador Antonio Nunez Garcia told Spanish National Radio that rescuers had recovered the bodies of 22 people who were aboard the aircraft, 12 Spaniards and 10 Equatorial Guineans. There were no Americans aboard the flight.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but Nunez Garcia told a Spanish news agency that local authorities believe that the accident was due to a “technical failure.” He added that there was neither a fire nor an explosion aboard the aircraft.

The ambassador said the pilot reported problems to the control tower right after takeoff, saying, “We are in a dangerous situation.” Then the plane crashed.