Ten people, including five Americans, were killed and four others were injured on Sunday when a propeller aircraft crashed on a hill near El Puente, east of Guatemala City, officials said.
“The accident happened on a hill near this village when the TG-JES flight crashed for unknown reasons. According to preliminary information at least 14 people were aboard,” Volunteer Fire Department spokesman Carlos Salazar said.
Nine Americans and five Guatemalans were traveling aboard the aircraft, Civil Aviation director Juan Jose Carlos said.
The pilot tried to make an emergency landing, Carlos said.
Five of the fatalities were US citizens, the other five were Guatemalans, including the pilot and copilot, Salazar said.
The four survivors, all Americans, were flown to Guatemala City hospitals, he said.
The aircraft, belonging to Aeroruta Maya company, was flying from the Guatemala City suburb of La Aurora to El Estor, in northern Izabal department, when it crashed on a hill near El Puente, in eastern Zacapa department.
Aeroruta Maya manager Richard Calloway said the pilot landed on a flat area but apparently lost control when the aircraft hit a pothole.
“The airplane did not explode on landing, but later. Spilled fuel on the ground caught fire. Otherwise nobody would have survived,” Calloway said.
A preliminary report by the Civil Aeronautics Agency said the pilot called in engine trouble about 45 minutes before crashing.
Sarah Jensen, a 19-year-old who survived the crash with minor cuts and bruises, said she and her family were headed to a village in the area of El Estor to build homes for CHOICE Humanitarian, a group based in West Jordan, Utah.
Her brother and father were killed in the crash, and her mother had serious burns and contusions. The family is from Amery, Wisconsin, she said in at the hospital.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS