Rescue workes carry the body of a victim on
Tuesday.-Xinhua/Reuters
Human remains and wreckage are scattered around the site where a
Colombia's West Caribbean passenger plane crashed Tuesday in a mountainous
Venezuelan area near the Colombian border.
A statement from West Caribbean said there were 152 passengers on
board the twin-engine MD-82, including one child and eight crewmembers.
According to media reports, large number of local residents rushed
to the crash site. The site is a jungle in a mountainous area difficult of
access. Venezuelan military later sealed off the place.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Jesse Chacon said the plane crashed
at 03:00 local time (07:00 GMT) after the pilot informed of technical problems
on both engines and requested permission for an emergency landing in Maracaibo
Airport, capital of Zulia department.
The airline, Venezuelan authorities and France have refrained from
speculating on the cause of the engines' trouble.