Cuban military officials died in plane crash buried with honor

Eight Cuban military officials killed in a plane crash last week in a western province were buried with honor on Thursday in three different cities of the Caribbean nation.

According to Cuban state television, six of these officials were buried at the military pantheon of the Colon Cemetery in Havana.

Cuban President Raul Castro sent a wreath to the soldiers who died "fulfilling their duties," and Defense Minister Leopoldo Cintra Frias and several high-ranking military officials appeared at the burial ceremony.

Meanwhile, two other soldiers died in the April 29 plane crash were buried with military honor in the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Las Tunas.

On April 29, the aircraft they were riding took off from the military airport of Playa Baracoa, about 30 km west of Havana, and crashed onto the Pimienta Hill in the province of Artemisa, some 70 km west of the Cuban capital.

The aircraft was a Russian made AN-26, a model used by the Cuban military for domestic transportation.

Preliminary data indicates the cause of the accident may have been a "technical failure" of the engine, while a military probe team is still working on the case. Endi