Turkish plane crash kills 37

ANKARA, Turkey (CNN) -- A Turkish military plane has crashed in southern Turkey killing all 37 people reported to be on board.

Military sources told CNN Turk the plane was carrying 31 special forces troops and six crew members when it came down at 1:15 pm local time (1015 GMT) on Wednesday in open country in Malatya province.

It was the worst air disaster in Turkey since 1994 when 57 people died in a Turkish Airlines crash.

The aircraft crashed near Akcadag, several hundred miles southeast of the capital Ankara, after taking off from the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir.

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State-run Anatolian news agency reported the CASA CN-235 cargo plane was on its way to Ankara. The Spanish-designed two-engine propeller aircraft are manufactured in Turkey.

CNN Turk reported that the aircraft went into a steep dive after the pilots lost control of the aircraft at 17,000 feet.

AUDIO CNN Turk's Gokhan Guvenc: There's no official explanation of the accident 465 Kb/43 secs. AIFF or WAV sound

Bayram Karaaslan, the mayor of Akcadag, said there were no survivors. "We can only collect corpses now," he said.

Karaaslan said the plane was in several parts and was still on fire. "It does not look like a plane," he said.

"There's a suggestion it might have exploded in the air but it's not certain," Karaaslan said. "Bits of the plane are scattered over 300-400 metres (yards)."

There has been no announcement about the cause of the crash.