U.S. plane crashes in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON -- At least seven soldiers survived the crash of a military transport plane in Afghanistan Wednesday, military officials said.\nTen people were aboard the Air Force MC-130 when it crashed in eastern Afghanistan. A statement from U.S. Central Command said seven suffered minor injuries and "the status of the other three has yet to be determined."\nThe seven survivors, whose injuries ranged from a broken leg to cuts and bruises, were flown to a U.S. base at Kandahar for treatment, the statement said.\nThe plane crashed on takeoff at about 9:30 p.m. local time (about 1 p.m. EDT) near the Bande Sardeh dam in Paktika province, the Pentagon said.\nThe crash did not appear to have been caused by hostile fire, the statement said. An investigation was under way.\nThe MC-130 is a version of the propeller-driven C-130 cargo plane outfitted for special forces missions such as refueling helicopters and taking commandos into hostile territory.\nA dozen U.S. soldiers supporting the war in Afghanistan have been killed in airplane or helicopter crashes. On Jan. 9, seven Marines were killed when their KC-130 crashed into a mountain in Pakistan. The KC-130 is the refueling tanker version of the C-130.