Spanish Passenger Plane Crashes; 38 Killed

A Spanish passenger plane slammed into a hillside near Morocco’s Mediterranean coast Friday, killing all 38 people aboard.

The plane, a Pauknair flight from the southern Spanish city of Malaga, crashed near the village of Boumahfoud, 20 miles from the town of Nador, as it was preparing to land in Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla.

“The bodies of the 38 victims of the crash were all recovered by rescuers and repatriated to Melilla on Friday evening,” an aviation authority spokesman said in Nador.

The cause of the crash was not known. Officials said the weather had been favorable.

Most of the dead were believed to be Spanish, but a Spanish diplomat said there were two Moroccans on board.

“It seems the Spanish airplane hit a small mountain close to Melilla while on its way to land in the city’s airport. . . . A fire immediately erupted,” one local resident said.

About 300 civil servants and members of security forces from both countries worked to recover bodies, possessions and debris from a wide area, said a Melilla resident who visited the scene.

Spanish Civil Guard officials said the plane, a BAe 146-100 aircraft carrying 34 passengers and four crew, disappeared from radar just after 9 a.m.

Morocco’s official news agency MAP said Spanish experts had recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders. Many of the passengers were Spanish servicemen returning to the garrison in Melilla after taking vacations.

Melilla is a territory of 5 square miles that lies about 100 miles south of the Spanish mainland. It is ruled by Spain but claimed by Morocco.