An airplane carrying 10 American tourists and two Costa Rican crew members has crashed in Guanacaste, northwest Costa Rica, killing everyone on board.
The country’s Public Safety Ministry posted a Facebook video showing burning wreckage in a wooded, mountainous area of Punta Islita, a popular tourist destination. Local TV station Teletica reported that the airplane appeared to have crashed minutes after it took off.
Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis confirmed in a Facebook post that the 10 foreign passengers were all U.S. citizens.
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“The government expresses its commitment to doing everything necessary to cooperate with the families of the victims in what they require at this difficult time, and conveys the solidarity of the Costa Rican people,” Solis wrote.
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The victims may have included five members of one family, according to local newspaper La Nacion.
Former Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla tweeted that her cousin was among the two dead crew members.
The aircraft belonged to Nature Air, a carrier based in the Costa Rican capital San Jose.
Authorities said an investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
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