Air crash in Iraq kills 31

Thirty-one people were killed yesterday when their chartered plane crashed while trying to land in foggy conditions in Iraq, Turkish officials said.

The Moldovan Antonov-26, which took off from the Turkish city of Adana early yesterday, was carrying about 35 people including 30 construction workers, the officials said.

"The plane came down at about midday Turkish time (1000 GMT) some 2.5 kilometers to the northwest of Balad," a Foreign Ministry official said. He put the death toll at 31 and said one person was injured and three were missing.