Aerocon Airlines Plane Crashes in Bolivia, 8 Killed, 10 Injured [PHOTO]
Aerocon Crash
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.
A hospital official in the city of Riberalta says two of the 10 people who survived Sunday’s crash suffered serious injuries. Hospital director Jose Luis Pereira told the ABI state news agency those two were one of the plane’s two pilots and a woman passenger.
The Aerocon plane reportedly landed in heavy rain and wind in Riberalta, which is about 400 miles (650 kilometers) north of Bolivia’s capital, La Paz. The plane ran off the runway into brush, turned over and caught fire.
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.”