Washington — A U.S. military plane carrying at least seven Marines crashed into a mountain in Pakistan.
The crash occurred Wednesday night local time, and a search-and-rescue mission continued into this morning.
A KC-130, which is used for in-flight refueling, flies with two military helicopters in Tampa, Fla., in this Jan. 1, 2002, file photo. A KC-130 carrying seven Marines crashed Wednesday as it was making a landing approach at a base in Pakistan.
Pentagon officials said there were no initial indications that anyone survived, but they could not rule it out. They also said there were no signs that the plane, a KC-130 used for in-flight refueling or hauling cargo, was brought down by hostile action.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he understood the plane was carrying passengers in addition to the crew, but he had no further details.
Other military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the plane was carrying a crew of six and one passenger all Marines.
Relatives said one of the Marines was Bryan Bertrand, 23, of Coos Bay, Ore.
The plane crashed as it approached a military airfield called Shamsi in southwestern Pakistan. That air base is about 180 miles southwest of the Pakistani city of Quetta, according to U.S. Central Command.
Witnesses reported seeing flames shooting from the plane before it slammed into the mountain.
In a brief statement, Central Command said from its Tampa, Fla., headquarters that the names of the service members were being withheld until their relatives had been informed.
Central Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in Pakistan and the surrounding region, said the four-engine KC-130 Hercules took off from Jacobabad, Pakistan, and was making multiple stops.
President Bush said the crash was a reminder of "how serious the times are today.
"Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the soldiers," Bush said at a fund-raiser for the re-election of his brother Jeb as governor of Florida. "But I want to remind them that the cause that we are now engaged in is just and noble. The cause is freedom, and this nation will not rest until we've achieved our objective."
In a brief exchange with reporters at the Pentagon, Rumsfeld said he did not know the circumstances of the crash or whether the KC-130 was on a refueling mission.
"I'm going to wait for the investigation to be completed," he said. "We've got some folks heading up there now.
"It is a tough, dangerous business over there," he added. "They're doing difficult things, and they're doing them darned well, and it just breaks your heart."
A journalist, Saeed Malangzai, who lives about 40 miles from the crash site, told The Associated Press the plane went down in mountains in southern Balochistan province.
"Residents saw flames from the burning plane before it crashed into the Lundi mountains," Malangzai said.
Pakistani troops encircled the area, he said.
The KC-130 is a $37 million plane routinely used by the Marine Corps for in-flight refueling of helicopters. It is also used for troop and cargo delivery, evacuation missions and special operations support. It normally carries a six-man crew of two pilots, a navigator, flight engineer, mechanic and loadmaster.
The only other fatal crash of a U.S. military aircraft during the war in Afghanistan, which began Oct. 7, was an Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed in Pakistan on Oct. 19, killing two Army Rangers.
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