S. Africa Plane Crash Kills 17

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A passenger plane exploded in air and crashed 20 yards from a Coca-Cola factory building near Johannesburg today, killing all 17 people aboard, the South African Broadcasting Corp. reported.

“There are bodies lying all over. . . . It was a horrible sight,” said transport worker Frank Aurell, one of the first on the scene. “It exploded in mid-air. It was already in two pieces as it came down.” The Brazilian-made turboprop with 15 passengers--mostly businessmen and tourists--and two crew was approaching Johannesburg’s Jan Smuts Airport on a flight from the mining town of Phalaborwa, officials said.