Mauritania plane crash kills 7 NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania, July 12 (UPI) -- A plane crashed en route to a Tasiast mine in Mauritania Thursday, killing seven people, officials said. The plane, a military plane chartered to carry gold from a Kinross Gold Corp. mine, crashed shortly after taking off from the airport in Nouakchott, Kinross said in a release. The seven killed in the crash included two pilots, two Mauritanian customs officials, and three contract security personnel. "Kinross extends its sincere condolences to the families of the victims," the release said. The Canadian-based Kinross gold mining company operates mines and projects in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Ghana, Mauritania, Russia and the United States.