Zambia National Soccer Team Members Die in Plane Crash

A military aircraft carrying Zambia’s national soccer team to a World Cup qualifying match crashed into the sea minutes after takeoff Wednesday. Rescuers said none of the 30 people on board could have survived.

Gabonese troops retrieved body parts and debris from the aircraft 1 1/2 miles from the Atlantic Ocean shore of this Central African nation.

The plane was flying from Port Louis, capital of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, where the Zambians won an African Cup of Nations qualifying match, 3-0. The Zambian team was on its way to Senegal to begin play Sunday in the second round of African qualifying for the 1994 World Cup.

The Zambian Sports Ministry released a list of 16 players who were on the plane, all of whom play for African clubs or El Ettifaq of Saudi Arabia. Three regular members of the team who play for first-division clubs in Europe were not aboard.

Zambia has never played in the World Cup finals. It is in a qualifying group with Morocco and Senegal, and the winner will advance to the 1994 tournament in the United States.