Caught on camera: Afghan cargo plane crash

On Monday, a Boeing 747, which had taken off from the Bagram airbase near Kabul, the Afghan capital on its way to Dubai exploded and crashed killing all seven people on board the plane.

The passengers were all American citizens.

The video footage, filmed by a camera that appears to be on the dashboard of a vehicle driving nearby, shows the plane gaining altitude and then twisting and plummeting to earth as it crashes and is then engulfed in flames.

The Telegraph reported that the Taliban, in a statement, claimed responsibility for the crash, but Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said there were no reports of insurgent activity in or around the base, which is one of the largest in the country.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team of investigators to Afghanistan to assist local authorities with their investigation.

The plane – owned by National Airlines, a Florida-based subsidiary of National Air Cargo was carrying cargo, according to National Air Cargo Vice President Shirley Kaufman, the Telegraph report added.

Kaufman said those killed were four pilots, two mechanics and a load master, who was responsible for making sure that the weight and balance of the cargo is appropriate.

“We are not yet releasing the identities of the colleagues we lost out of respect for their families who need a little more time to reach other loved ones,” she said in an email to a news agency.