Venezuela Plane Crash Lands, Killing 11, Injuring 23 People
September 13, 2010, 12:26 PM EDT
By Corina Rodriguez Pons and Jose Orozco
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- A Venezuelan airplane carrying 47 passengers crash landed minutes after taking off from Ciudad Guayana, killing 11 people and injuring almost two dozen.
Bolivar state Governor Francisco Rangel Gomez announced the deaths to reporters, local newspaper Diario de Gauyana reported. Rangel Gomez previously announced 23 injuries in comments carried by state television.
The airport’s control tower at Ciudad Guayana, roughly 330 miles southeast of the capital, Caracas, said the plane’s captain reported problems controlling the plane shortly after takeoff, Rangel Gomez said.
The ATR-42 turboprop aircraft belonging to the Venezuelan state-owned airline Conviasa was en route to Margarita Island when it crashed outside the gates of Siderurgica del Orinoco, Venezuela’s largest steel mill, 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from Ciudad Guayana’s airport, Rangel Gomez said.