Originally published on October 6, 2013
Four people were killed and two seriously injured when an airplane on a U.S. counter-drug mission crashed in northern Colombia early on Saturday, according to Reuters.
The aircraft, which was part of a U.S.-sponsored multinational antidrug task force, lost radio contact and crashed in a remote jungle region where Marxist FARC rebels and drug traffickers operate.
Four U.S. contractors for the Air Force, an American serviceman and a Panamanian National Guardsman were aboard the Dash 8 twin-engine propeller plane. It went down near the city of Capurganá, close to the border with Panama.
Three of the American contractors and the Panamanian were killed.
The exact cause of the crash, remains unclear, according to U.S. and Colombian officials.
Commander of the Colombian Army's Brigade IV, Gen. Nicasio de Jesús Martínez, whose troops were at the scene of the accident, ruled out the possibility that rebels had shot down the plane, according to the New York Times.
U.S. officials credited Colombia's search and rescue teams with saving the two survivors, who were flown to a nearby hospital.
"We express our sympathies to the families of the deceased, and are particularly saddened by the loss of a Panamanian Air National Guardsman," said General John Kelly, commander of U.S. Southern Command, according to an NBC News report. "We also want to thank the Colombians for their outstanding rescue and recovery efforts."
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