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September 5, 2008 11:53:43 PM CDT

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Plane Crashes in Venezuela; 46 Aboard

Posted Feb 21, 08 9:40 PM CST in World 

(Newser) – A plane crashed in western Venezuela with 46 people aboard today, AFP reports. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the airliner soon after it took off from the Andean city of Merida bound for Caracas. People in the mountainous Coyado del Condor region reported seeing a plane go down. Merida's head of civil defense said search-and-rescue teams were on the way.

The plane, an ATR 42-300 turboprop, went missing after it took off just before dusk from the high-altitude city, Reuters reports. The crash area is reported to be about 15,000 feet above sea level. There has been no immediate word on the fate of the 43 passengers and three crew.  "This causes a lot of fear, a lot of pain," an official said. 

Sources Reuters, AFP

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Relatives of passengers on board a commercial flight flying from the southern Venezuela town of Merida to Caracas reported missing wait for news at the the desk of Venezuelan Santa Barbara airlines at...   (Associated Press)
A French-Italian built ATR-42 turboprop similar to the one reported to have crashed in Venezuela.   ((c) R1CARD0)
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A French-Italian built ATR-42 turboprop similar to the one reported to have crashed in Venezuela takes off from Vanuatu in this file photo.   ((c) PhillipC)
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