An Argentine air force plane providing aid for Bolivian flood victims crashed outside of La Paz on Thursday, killing all six people on board, authorities from both countries said.
The Learjet 35A was returning from the Bolivian capital to Argentina when it apparently had a mechanical failure, said Argentine air force Commodore Guillermo Lozada.
"The plane had taken off from the airport in La Paz on return to our country when, for a failure that will be investigated, it plunged to the ground, killing all of its occupants," Lozada said.
The plane crashed in Bolivia's high plains about 20km southeast of La Paz, Bolivia's capital, according to local Radio Fides. Witnesses said they heard a loud explosion before the plane went down.
"The plane completely disintegrated," Colonel Johnny Vera of the Bolivian armed forces said.
The Argentine Embassy could not immediately confirm the victims' names.
The plane had been providing technical support to an Argentine team of aid workers in Bolivia to help flood victims, said Pablo Prosperi, spokesman for the Argentine Embassy in Bolivia.
That team had departed on Wednesday night and arrived safely in Argentina, Prosperi said. Other aid planes have delivered medicine and medical supplies.
Argentine mechanics who had worked on the plane in Bolivia went down with the craft.
"The plane had been repaired in Bolivia by three mechanical specialists ... and they were three of the deceased officials," Lozada said.
RSS