Myanmar military plane crash kills 12, including senior monk

Myanmar’s military plane crashed Thursday in the country’s central Mandalay region. Among at least 12 people who died was a well-known senior Buddhist monk.

There are two survivors on the flight catastrophe took place from the Myanmar capital, Naypyitaw, the state-run media reported on Thursady. The other person taken to a hospital was reported to be a member of the military, but several other unconfirmed reports said he later died.

The plane was carrying six military personnel in addition to two monks and six devotees to Pyin Oo Lwin for a ceremony to lay the foundation for a new monastery.

The senior monk was believed to be in his nineties and hosted the head of the country’s current ruling junta, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, for a visit on Feb. 2, the day after the army ousted the country’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and seized power.

The crash occurred when the plane was making its landing approach to Pyin Oo Lwin’s Anisakhan airport, reported Washington Post.

The military plane that crashed appeared from photos to be a Beechcraft 1900, a model used by the air force.