Iraq crash kills Turkish workers

Relatives of the workers gathered at the company offices in Adana

Thirty-two people were killed when a plane carrying Turkish workers crashed north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, Turkish officials said.

The plane, an Antonov-26 aircraft, was travelling from the province of Adana in southern Turkey to Iraq.

Thirty construction workers and five crew members were on board the plane, a Turkish official said. The condition of the other three people was not known.

Reports said the plane crashed while trying to land in foggy conditions.

The plane went down near Balad, 80km (50 miles) north of Baghdad. Balad is the main US military transport hub in Iraq.

The plane was owned by Moldova's Aerian Tur Airlines and the workers were from Turkish construction company Kulak, officials said.

Many Turks are employed in Iraq, some of them on US military bases.

"We do not know the reason for the crash but we have started an investigation," said a spokesman for the Iraqi transport ministry, Ahmed al-Mussawi.