Helicopters have located the plane carrying 46 people that disappeared over Peru's Amazon jungle this week, the Peruvian Air Force announced today.
Colonel Juan Rodriguez Rodriguez, who is heading the rescue effort, said the plane "appears to have been destroyed" and noted that the fate of the 42 passengers and four crew members on board was unknown.
"It was a powerful impact and apparently there are no signs oflife," Transportation Minister Javier Reategui told reporters later. Hesaid victims remains were scattered over a radius of some 400 metres.
The Fokker F28 disappeared from radar screens on Thursday as it flew from Lima, with a stop in the coastal city of Chiclayo, to Chachapoyas.
Bad weather had severely hampered the search effort, but the plane was ultimately found near Golorqui, 16 kilometres (10 miles) north of Chachapoyas.
AFP