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11/21/2024 11:30:49 pm

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10 Dead After A Plane Crashes In Colombia

Colombian plane

(Photo : REUTERS/JOSE MIGUEL GOMEZ) Colombian firemen try to extinguish flames from the remains of a 747-200 cargo plane that crashed in the town of Madrid near Bogota.

Ten people were confirmed dead after a small plane crashed in Colombia's Amazon rainforest on Saturday, Colombian officials said.

Colombia's Risk Management Coordinator Gustavo Ortega said there were no survivors on board the plane that crashed. The 10 includes six men, three women and a young girl, “died on impact", Ortega told the media.

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According to reports, the rescue teams found the wreckage of the plane about 10 kilometers from the center town of Puerto Santander, the smallest municipality in northeastern Colombia, Colombia’s civil aviation agency confirmed.

The search teams reached the site and carried out efforts to retrieve the bodies. On Sunday, the air force officials recovered the bodies of eight passengers and two crew members from the debris of the plane, Ortega added.

Among the victims were Roberto Franco, a political scientist, and an indigenous leader Daniel Matapi.

The plane with registration number HK-4755PA 34 Navajo, bound for Florencia, the capital of Caqueta department, crashed in the Amazon jungle after it took off from Araracuara's airport, authorities said.

The aircraft was reportedly missing on Saturday at around 3:00 p.m. local time (2000 GMT), Col. Juan Carlos Rocha said. According to sources, the plane lost contact with the air traffic control on its way to the town of Florencia.

A man named Silvio Rojas, who was expected to have boarded the flight, told the media that the plane suffered from engine failure shortly after take-off.

"There was a lot of smoke from the left engine," Rojas said.

The cause of the accident is still being investigated.

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