Small passenger plane crashes in Colombian jungle, killing 10

USPA News - The bodies of ten people, including that of a young girl, were recovered Sunday after a small passenger plane flying on a domestic route crashed in the Amazon jungle in southeastern Colombia, authorities said. There were no survivors.

The twin-engine Piper PA-31 Navajo aircraft belonging to the Laser company was reported missing on Saturday afternoon when it went down over the Amazon rainforest in Colombia`s southeastern department of Amazonas. It took the Colombian Air Force several hours to locate the wreckage, which was spotted 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the town of Puerto Santander. An army helicopter scanned the crash site with devices to detect body heat, but no survivors were spotted. Search and rescue personnel reached the site on Sunday and recovered the bodies of the two crew members and eight passengers - six men, three women and a young girl. All were Colombian nationals. The Colombian Civil Aviation Authority described the plane wreckage as "fragmented and burned," but provided no details about the possible cause of the crash. The agency said the plane was traveling from Araracuara to the city of Florencia, both in the Department of Caquetá. Two of the victims were identified by the Humboldt Institute as researchers Roberto Franco and Daniel Matapi. "Flying through the jungle with open eyes and an open mind is a great way to document the existence of tribes and natives who have voluntarily chosen not to be part of our global world, not even communicate with her," the Institute said in a statement.