80 Feared Killed in Sri Lanka Air Crash
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A government transport plane carrying soldiers crashed into the sea today off western Sri Lanka, and officials said at least 80 military personnel on board were feared killed.
The Russian-built AN-32 aircraft was flying from Colombo to strife-torn northern Sri Lanka when it disappeared from radar screens off Negombo, about 19 miles north of the capital. The aircraft was reported to have plunged into the sea from 8,000 feet.
Helicopters and navy gunboats were searching for survivors.
It was not clear whether the plane was shot down by rebels known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The Tigers, who are fighting government troops in the north to win a separate homeland for minority Tamils, shot shown two air force planes with surface-to-air missiles in April.
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