LA PAZ — A Bolivian plane
carrying 18 people crashed on
Sunday while trying to land
during bad weather in the north
of the Andean country, killing
eight passengers and injuring the
others on board, the director of a
local hospital told Reuters.
Heavy rain was falling as the small
turboprop plane operated by local
airline Aerocon tried to land in
Riberalta, in Beni department near the
Brazilian border, according to
witnesses.
The plane took off from Trinidad,
Beni's capital, Aerocon said earlier on
Sunday, without providing a death toll.
Eighteen people were on board,
according to the director of the
Riberalta hospital, Jose Luis Pereira.
"(There were) 16 passengers and the
pilot and copilot, of whom 10 survived
and eight died," he told Reuters. "The
pilot and the copilot are in the gravest
situation ... Seven (bodies) are (so)
charred, we can't identify them."
A photo on the website of local
newspaper La Razon showed smoke
billowing from a propeller lying on the
grass.
President Evo Morales said he had
ordered "a deep investigation" into the
accident and "drastic sanctions on the
company."
