Passenger Plane Crashes North of Peru

LIMA (AFP) - A Peruvian airline passenger plane crashed close to the Amazon city of Pucallpa, police said, without indicating how many passengers were onboard the aircraft.

The Tans airline plane crashed near Pucallpa after taking off from Lima.

LIMA, Peru, Aug 23 (Reuters) - A Peruvian passenger plane on Tuesday made an emergency landing without its landing gear on a road near a jungle airport in heavy storms, firefighters said.

The plane, operated by state airlines TANS, was flying to the jungle town of Pucalpa in central Peru when it came down several miles (km) before the runway, police in the area added.

"The plane made an emergency landing but without its landing gear ... We don't know if anyone was killed," said firefighter Ilda Pineda.

One passenger, William Zea, told RPP radio about 20 people were injured in the crash landing.

TANS declined to comment.

LIMA, Peru - A commercial airliner carrying an unspecified number of passengers crashed Tuesday near a jungle town and radio reports said at least two people were dead and about 20 others injured with burns and broken bones.

"We are standing next to the cabin and we can see the body and it appears that it is a flight attendant in her uniform. We can also see a person, it appears to be a female," a correspondent for Radioprogramas radio said. "There are bodies of children. Many bodies."

The accident occurred around 4:20 p.m. about 20 miles from the jungle city Pucallpa, 305 miles northeast of the capital, Lima.

"Until now, there are 40 cadavers that rescue teams are pulling from the wreckage. There could be more deaths, we assume some 60 people in total, since we've rescued 20 injured people," a policeman in the town of Pucallpa told RPP radio, according to Reuters.

The reports said the plane tried to make an emergency landing during bad weather. Details on the number of people aboard and the type of aircraft were not immediately available.

A passenger plane has crashed in Peru's Amazon jungle killing at least 70 people on board and injuring many more.
Only 20 to 30 of the 93 passengers and seven crew on the internal flight from the capital Lima to the city of Pucallpa are reported to have survived.

Witnesses say the Boeing 737-200 was approaching Pucallpa airport in bad weather when it experienced problems.

LIMA, Aug. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Between 70 and 80 people were killed Tuesday after a Peruvian 737-200 jet crashed near the Amazon city of Pucallpa, Peruvian President Alejandro Toled was quoted as saying.

"There were between 20 and 30 survivors," on the jet which was on a flight between the capital Lima and Pucallpa, Toledo said.

The description is hellish: fire so fierce that it overwhelmed the hail and wind all around the crashed airliner as it lay in a marsh in rural Peru.

I felt a strong impact and a light and fire and felt I was in the middle of flames around the cabin, until I saw to my left a hole to escape through,” survivor Yuri Gonzalez told Radioprogramas. “Two other people were struggling to get out and I also was able to.”

What the heck is going on?
This has got to be a record for the most plane crashes and problems in a single month.