By Alex Pashley
QUITO, Ecuador
Five bodies were recovered Thursday, after a small plane crashed shortly after takeoff from an airstrip in a remote Amazonian community, Ecuadorian officials said.
Two passengers who survived, a man and his daughter – were flown to a Quito hospital. He suffered third-degree burns, while his daughter was under observation, the daily El Universo newspaper reported.
The passengers were returning from a ceremony where the government issued a formal apology for human rights abuses against the indigenous people of Sarayacu, located 110 miles (177 kilometers) southeast of the capital of Quito, according to the civil aviation authority.
Included among the dead were a photographer for the newspaper and the pilot of the Cessna. The flight was destined for a nearby airport in Pastaza province, local media reported.
Witnesses said the plane suffered a mechanical fault.
“The plane took off and immediately showed a fault, with smoke coming off,” El Universo journalist Christian Zurita, told the daily. “It tried to turn and land but it crashed 50 meters from the runway, we tried to rescue them but we couldn’t.”
A spokesman for the civil aviation authority, in comments to Radio Publica, said flight conditions in the region were often challenging due to short runways and poorly maintained planes owned by communities.
A similar accident occurred a month ago, added official Roberto Yerovi, who said “harder regulations” would be considered to reduce future accidents.
Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa’s took to Twitter to express his condolences.
“A day of celebration ended in tragedy. All our solidarity is with the family of the dead in the air accident.”
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in the favor of the Sarayacu people in July 2013, obliging the Ecuadorian government to a formal apology and compensation payments for violations committed by previous governments.
Representatives from the Andean country’s Justice and Environment ministries, and Sarayacu community attended the ceremony.
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