Two South Korean air force planes collided in mid-air during training and crashed near their base on Friday, killing all four people aboard the aircraft, officials said.
The collision occurred about five minutes after the first aircraft took off and about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) south of the Sacheon base, the air force said.
Two people — a trainer pilot and an instructor — were aboard each of the two KT-1 aircraft. All four ejected from the planes but were later found dead, the air force statement said. The four victims were identified as two first lieutenants and their instructors, both civilian employees at the air force.
Local emergency officials earlier said three bodies had been found in a mountainous area and a farming field in Sacheon. They said they believed the planes crashed into a mountain because a fire erupted there.
