Still image from video shows smoke rising from the wreckage of a Hercules C-130 aircraft after it crashed while trying to land in Guelmim
Smoke rises from the wreckage of a Hercules C-130 aircraft after it crashed while trying to land in Guelmim in this still image taken from a July 26, 2011 video by Morocco TV. At least 78 people were killed on Tuesday when the Moroccan military transport plane crashed into a mountain in the south of the country during bad weather, the military said in a statement carried by the state news agency. REUTERS/Reuters TV

A Moroccan military plane crashed into a mountain in the south killing 78 people, the army told the BBC.

According to the BBC article, the army said three other people were severely wounded in what could be one of Morocco's deadliest air disasters in years.

The C-130 Hercules aircraft was carrying 60 soldiers, nine crew members and 12 civilians, and was getting ready to land at an airport near the border with the disputed region of Western Sahara, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"Above all, it was the fog and bad weather conditions that are believed to be behind this accident. But for the moment, we don't have enough information," AFP news agency reported, quoting an official from the interior ministry as saying.

The plane was travelling from Dakhla, in the Western Sahara, to Kinitra in northern Morocco, and was preparing to make a scheduled stop at a military airbase some six miles east of Guelmim, according to the BBC.

Forty-two bodies have been found and the search continues for the other bodies.

The BBC reported that King Mohammed VI declared a three-day national mourning and ordered that prayers of remembrance be held on Friday in all mosques. The king sent condolence messages to the families of those who died.

Watch a video below.

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