JACKSON: Fifteen US Marines and a navy sailor were killed when a plane crashed in Mississippi state, officials told media on Wednesday.

The crash happened outside Itta Bena, a small town about 135 kilometres north of the state capital of Jackson, late on Monday. Bodies were found more than a kilometer from the plane.

Six of the Marines and the sailor were from an elite battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and were headed for pre-deployment training in Yuma, Arizona, the according to the Marine Corps.

With debris scattered across the flat countryside of the Mississippi delta, federal and local officials combed soybean fields for clues.

Several bouquets were left at the main gate of Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York, where the plane was based. Officials said some of those killed were from the base, but Stewart was closed to reporters and did not issue a statement.

“We’re feeling the pain that everybody else is,” Robert Brush said after dropping off three pots of red, white and blue petunias. He works for a landscaping company that serves the base.

Military officials continued to withhold the names of the dead, saying they were notifying family members.

Witnesses said they heard low, rumbling explosions when the plane was still high in the sky, saw the aircraft spiralling toward the flat, green landscape and spotted an apparently empty parachute floating toward the earth. It was the deadliest Marine Corps air disaster since 2005, when a transport helicopter went down during a sandstorm in Iraq, killing 30 Marines and a sailor.

With investigation underway, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant warned people not to remove debris from the area and said that anyone taking something could be prosecuted.

Bryant, in statements on Twitter, said law enforcement authorities had received reports that items were being taken from the crash site.

Sheriff’s deputies and state troopers have been trying to control access to sites, but the broad area and number of roads makes that difficult.

FBI agents joined military investigators, though Marine Major Andrew Aranda told reporters no foul play was suspected.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2017