A plane carrying Paraguayan Agriculture Minister Luis Gneiting has been found by search and rescue teams after it went missing on Wednesday evening, an official at the country’s aviation authority told local radio.
The aircraft was found 6km away from Ayolas airport, where it took off. It was en route to the country’s capital, Asuncion, according to Luis Aguirre, head of the National Civil Aviation Directorate.
The airplane was carrying the agriculture minister along with three others. Aguirre said he still didn’t have any information on the passengers.
“The remains of the plane were found in a wetland. The tip of the tail is visible and the rest of the plane is underwater,” Aguirre said. “Based on what we can see, and this is unofficial, there are no survivors.”
Gneiting’s vice minister for cattle, Vicente Ramirez, was also aboard the aircraft, Aguirre added.
The rescue team found the twin engine aircraft on Thursday morning.
Aguirre said the airplane had only been flying for two or three minutes and did not reach a high altitude before it fell.
According to local media, the two other passengers were technician Luis Charotti and the pilot, Gerardo López.
The plane reportedly took off on Wednesday at 6:22 pm local time.
UPDATE:
Paraguay Agriculture Minister Luis Gneiting and three others died when the twin engine airplane carrying them to the capital Asuncion crashed into a wetland on Wednesday night, an official said on Thursday.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the deaths of four people on a flight that had an accident,” said Joaquin Roa, the head of the National Emergency Secretariat, adding that emergency workers were currently trying to recover the bodies and that the aircraft was “totally disintegrated.”
“All of Pagaguay is in mourning over this accident,” President-elect Mario Abdo, who will take office on Aug. 15, told reporters.
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