Ten US citizens die in plane crash in Costa Rica

YemenExtra

All the 12 passengers onboard a charter plane, including 10 Americans, have died after it crashed in Costa Rica.

The Nature Air charter flight reportedly took off from Punta Islita and crashed in northwest Costa Rica around 12:30 pm Sunday, while heading towards the capital San Jose.

“The government of Costa Rica deeply regrets the death of 10 American passengers and two Costa Rican pilots,” President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera said in a statement on Facebook.

An investigation into the cause of the deadly crash was set to be launched Monday, added the president.

Pictures of the crash were released by Costa Rica’s Public Safety Ministry, showing burning wreckage in a wooded area.

The identities of the victims have not yet been officially released.

The pilot, Juan Manuel Retana, was said to be an experienced professional, according to Enio Cubillo, the head of Costa Rica Civil Aviation.