13/08/08 (B460) Press TV / Un petit bimoteur, transportant du Khat dont le commerce est lucratif en Solamie, s’écrase au Sud de Mogadiscio après avoir heurté une ligne électrique : 3 morts. Khat plane crash in Somalia kills 3 (Info lecteur – En Anglais)

An airplane carrying Khat, a mild narcotic leaf, from Kenya to Somalia has crashed south of Mogadishu, killing three people on board.

Witnesses reported a heavy explosion in the K-50 airport, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Mogadishu, where the small aircraft had crashed, killing all three Kenyan crew members on board, Press TV correspondent in Somalia reported on Wednesday.

Khat trade is a lucrative business in Somalia. Small aircraft carry loads of the leaf from Kenya into Somalia at K-50 and other airstrips around Mogadishu on a daily basis.

The mild stimulant which is mainly chewed by men who sit in groups for long hours, is a crimson brown plant grown in East Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula.