A U.S. military refueling plane crashed in Kyrgyzstan shortly after it took off from an airbase nearby on Friday, according to the Central Asian nation's emergencies ministry.
The C-135 plane plummeted near the village of Chaldovar, about 100 miles west of the airbase in northern Chuy province at about 2:55 p.m. local time.
Three people were on board, said Emergencies Ministry spokesperson Bolot Sharshenaliev. Another ministry official said there were five, reports CNN. No survivors have been found thus far.
The American base in Kyrgyzstan, called the Transit Center, is used for troops flying to and from Afghanistan, as well as C-135 tanker planes that fuel up other aircrafts. It is located in the town of Manas, and lies adjacent to the International Airport outside the capital of Bishkek.
The airbase has been a hotly contested area between the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan, as their agreement to use the base in exchange for $60 million a year might extend past its lease ending in June 2014 if America decides to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
According to the Associated Press, the plane split into three pieces when it hit a mountain and crashed into an uninhabited area.
"Debris from the crashed plane has scattered over a radius of 10 kilometers," head of Kyrgyzstan transport prosecutors, Kuvan Mamakeyev told Agence France Presse at the scene of the crash.
Although it has not yet been confirmed, one local official said that one of the pilots reportedly parachuted from the wreckage.
"The preliminary information is that the pilot jumped out with a parachute," deputy district chief Anatoly Ivannikov told a local radio station. "They have gone to look for him."
Mamakeyev, however, is unsure of whether or not survivors will be found.
"In such a disaster, alas, it is unlikely that the crew managed to survive," he said, painting a dismal and harrowing picture of what could be.
