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Venezuela passenger jet missing 'No survivors' in Venezuela crash
(about 9 hours later)
The authorities in Venezuela say they fear a commercial plane with 46 people aboard has crashed. Emergency workers have said there is no chance of finding survivors from a commercial plane that crashed in Venezuela with 46 people aboard.
The ATR 42-300 took off from Merida in the west of the country and was destined for the capital, Caracas. A rescue helicopter spotted wreckage of the ATR 42-300 about six miles (10kms) north-east of the western city of Merida, where the plane had taken off.
The twin-engine aircraft took off late on Thursday afternoon before losing contact with air traffic controllers. Officials say the mountainous area can only be reached by foot.
Rescue teams headed to an area in the Venezuelan Andes with peaks at 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) to search for wreckage and any survivors. The plane had departed late on Thursday afternoon for Caracas before losing contact with air traffic controllers.
The search had been temporarily called off at nightfall due to fog. "The impact was direct. The aircraft is practically pulverised," firefighter Sgt Johnny Paz told the Venezuelan TV station Globovision.
National civil defence chief Antonio Rivero said there was information of a possible finding, but that the plane was still officially listed as missing. "It crashed at an altitude of 12,000 feet (4,000 metres) against a wall of rock," he said. "There are no survivors."
Villagers in the area reported hearing a loud noise thought to have been the crash, officials said. A regional civil defence chief, Gerardo Rojas, said the chance of finding any survivors was "minimal".
Merida is located in a mountainous region, 680 km (422 miles) south-west of Caracas. "The plane is just too destroyed and it is in such a tough area."
State psychiatrists have been assigned to help relatives waiting at the Simon Bolivar airport, near Caracas. 'Inaccessible'
The plane was a turboprop aircraft produced by French-Italian company ATR and operated by the local Santa Barbara airline. With no obvious areas for aircraft to land nearby, recovery of wreckage and bodies was expected to be difficult.
"The zone is completely inaccessible," said Ivan Altuve, a search team co-ordinator in western Venezuela.
Search parties had been sent to look for the wreckage on Thursday night, some on foot.
At Simon Bolivar airport in Caracas, where the plane was due to arrive, relatives who had gathered waiting for news received support from psychiatrists.
Merida is located in a mountainous region, 680km (422 miles) south-west of Caracas.
It is notoriously difficult to navigate around the city.
Pilots are given special training to take off and land at the airport because the city is surrounded by high mountains.
Visibility is often poor and planes are not allowed to take off at night.
However, the weather on departure was said to have been normal for Merida.
The plane that crashed was a twin-engine, turboprop aircraft produced by French-Italian company ATR and operated by the local Santa Barbara airline.
The company's president, Jorge Alvarez, said it had been well maintained and had no history of technical problems.
The plane was about 20 years old and the pilot had been working for Santa Barbara for eight years, he said.
Those aboard included three crew members and 43 passengers.