Emergency officials respond to the site of a military plane crash near Itta Bena, Mississippi on July 10. Lefl ore County Emergency Management Agency Director Frank Randle told reporters at a late briefing that more than a dozen bodies had been recovered after the KC-130 spiraled into the ground about 85 miles (135 kms) north of Jackson in the Mississippi Delta. (Inset): In this photo provided by Jimmy Taylor, smoke and fl ames come from the wreckage of a military transport airplane crashed in a field near Itta Bena, Mississippi. (AP)

All 16 troops aboard a Marine Corps air refueling and transport aircraft were killed when the plane crashed in a field in rural Mississippi, officials confirmed Tuesday. Authorities provided few details on what went wrong, or the nature of the Marines’ mission. The KC-130, an air refueling aircraft that can also carry troops and cargo, took off from a Marine Corps air base at Cherry Point, North Carolina on Monday and disappeared from radar over Mississippi, crashing in the late afternoon.“A Marine Corps KC-130 transport aircraft crashed in LeFlore County, Mississippi, on July 10 at approximately 4:00 pm CDT (2100 GMT), claiming the lives of 16 service members,” the Marine Corps said in a statement. The cause of the crash is under investigation. US President Donald Trump, in a tweet, said the news was “heartbreaking.” “Melania and I send our deepest condolences to all!” he added.Mississippi congressman Steven Palazzo said on Twitter he was “devastated,” and offered prayers for the families of the victims.The plane crashed in a soybean field in a largely rural area in the western part of the state. All the victims were on the Marine Corps aircraft and there were no survivors, Leflore County emergency management director Fred Randle told CNN.(AFP)