Fourteen dead after private jet crashes between Las Vegas and Mexico: media
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The remains of a plane have been found after it disappeared en route from the U.S. city of Las Vegas to Monterrey in northern Mexico, an official of Mexican state of Coahuila said on Monday, with local media reporting that all 14 on board had died.
Mexican newspaper Reforma said the private plane had 11 passengers and three crew members on board.
The wreckage of the plane was found via aerial surveillance some 129 miles (208 km) northwest of the northern city of Monclova in Coahuila, said Fernando Orta of the border state’s emergency services department.
Officials had not yet arrived to inspect the site, he added.
“The land is rather mountainous... so they’re going to take a while longer to arrive,” Orta said.
FlightAware, an online flight tracking service, said the plane was a Challenger business jet made by Canada’s Bombardier Inc. The company was not immediately available for comment.
A photograph published on local television network Milenio showed what it said were the burnt remnants of the plane, broken into pieces, spread over charred earth.
Mexican media reported that the passengers had attended a boxing match between Mexican boxer Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Names of crew and passengers published in local media and sourced to flight information website fltplan.com, listed only Hispanic surnames. Reuters could not immediately confirm the veracity of the list.
A Mexican transport ministry spokesman could not say whether there had been any survivors.
Local broadcaster Televisa reported the small twin-engine jet lost contact on Sunday with air traffic controllers sometime after 5:20 p.m. local time (2220 GMT) as the pilot descended to avoid a storm.
Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon, Noe Torres, Ana Isabel Martinez, David Alire Garcia and Allison Lampert; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien, Lisa Shumaker and David Gregorio
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