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COLOMBIA-AVIATION-CRASH
Twelve dead in Colombia plane crash
BOGOTA, March 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A plane crash in Colombia killed 12
people on Saturday, including a mayor and her family, aviation and emergency
services said.
The Douglas DC-3 aircraft, an American-made twin-engine propeller plane
that was first produced in the 1930s, crashed in the center-east of the
country on a flight between the towns of San Jose del Guaviare and
Villavicencio. A fire department official told AFP it then caught fire.
“Unfortunately… there were no survivors,” the Aeronautica Civil aviation
authority said, adding that the wreckage was found close to Villavicencio.
Among the victims was the mayor of the municipality of Taraira, Doris
Villegas, and her husband and daughter, as well as the owner of the aircraft,
pilot Jaime Carrillo, co-pilot Jaime Herrera and an aviation technician
identified as Alex Moreno.
President Ivan Duque paid tribute to the victims on Twitter.
“My solidarity with the families,” he wrote.
The Defensa Civil emergency services put the death toll at 12, with
director Colonel Jorge Martinez suggesting an engine failure could have
caused the crash.
“At the moment of flying over the municipality of San Martin, an engine
turns off and the pilot … tries to land … but it gets out of control,” he
theorized to RCN news channel.
But Aeronautica Civil gave no details on a cause and asked the press to
show restraint in using images circulating on social media “out of respect
for the victims and their families.”
Meanwhile, the fire department confirmed the flight had not faced
unfavorable weather conditions.
The plane was operated by Laser Aereo, a cargo and passenger transport
company. Contacted by the AFP, the company declined to comment on the
accident.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0854 hrs