10 confirmed dead in Colombia plane crash

BOGOTA, Colombia–All 10 people on board a Colombian plane that crashed in the Amazon jungle were confirmed dead on Sunday, rescuers said.

Rescue team official Gustavo Ortega told AFP the eight passengers and two crew died on impact after Saturday’s crash.

Ortega said all the dead–six men, three women and a young girl–were Colombian nationals.

The aircraft with registration number HK-4755 PA 34 Navajo took off from Araracuara Airport in the country’s south around 3 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) on Saturday. It lost contact with air traffic control as it went over the town of Florencia.

The wreck of the aircraft was located–fragmented and incinerated–10 kilometers (six miles) from the urban center of the town of Puerto Santander.

Ortega said the flight was a normal commercial route. Air travel is a popular method of transport in the jungle region because of poor roads, he added.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

However, one man who was supposed to have boarded the flight, Silvio Rojas, told RCN Radio the plane appeared to suffer engine failure shortly after take-off.

“There was a lot of smoke from the left engine,” he said.

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