South African military aircraft crashes in mountains; soldiers looks for survivors

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's military says one of its twin-propeller aircraft has crashed in a mountain range.

Brig. Gen. Xolani Mabanga told The Associated Press on Thursday that soldiers found the wreckage of the Douglas DC-3 Dakota in the Drakensberg mountains near Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal province. The brigadier general said the aircraft has taken off from Pretoria's Waterkloof Air Force Base on Wednesday night.

Mabanga said soldiers had been sent to the scene to look for survivors. Mabanga said he did not know what the mission of the aircraft was, though it had planned to land in Mthatha in the country's Eastern Cape.