At least 15 people were killed when a passenger plane belonging to Venezuelan state-owned airline Conviasa crashed near an airport in Bolívar State late Monday morning, authorities said. Others survived the accident.
Conviasa flight 2350, an ATR 42 aircraft, was en-route from Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport in Porlamar, the largest city on Isla Margarita, to Manuel Carlos Piar Guayana Airport in the city of Ciudad Guayana when it crashed about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the airport.
A spokeswoman for Conviasa said the aircraft was carrying a total of 43 passengers and 4 crew members when it crashed on the property of the state-run Sidor steel company, situated in an industrial zone near Ciudad Guayana.
At least 15 people were believed to have been killed in the accident, rescue workers told TeleSUR television. Bolivar state Governor Francisco Rangel Gomez said at least 23 others had survived the accident and were taken to area hospitals.
The conditions of the other people on board was not immediately clear.
Monday’s accident was the first major aircraft accident in Venezuela since February 21, 2008 when Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 crashed into the side of a mountain in western Venezuela. All 46 people on board were killed.
