Seven die when military plane crashes into Quito building

Mar 20, 2009, 13:45 GMT

   Quito - Seven people were killed when a military aircraft crashed into an apartment building in thick fog and exploded in the capital of Ecuador.

   All five people on board the eight-seat propeller Beechcraft plane and two people on the ground died in Thursday's crash in northern Quito, authorities said.

   Four people were injured, one seriously, authorities said.

   The plane was flying low as it prepared to land in Quito and grazed a tree before it flew into the building, witnesses said. It went down about 2.5 kilometres from Quito's airport.

   It was on a training flight from Manta on Ecuador's central coast and was carrying three military personnel and the wife and 12-year-old son of the pilot, Defence Minister Javier Ponce said.

   One of the dead on the ground was identified as a 60-year-old woman who lived in one of the apartments hit by the plane.

   The seven-storey building's top three floors partially collapsed when the plane crashed into it.

   Ecuador television footage showed fire brigades battling the flames while police sealed of the crash site.

   Authorities said they planned to sweep the area for more victims Friday as the search was suspended overnight for lack of visibility.

   The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but an investigation was launched.

   The Guapulo neighbourhood, where the crash took place, has now seen four crashes in the past 27 years, causing 30 deaths. A 1988 crash killed the air force commander and a 1992 accident killed tourism minister Pedro Zambrano.

   President Rafael Correa and Defence Minister Javier Ponce visited the crash site Thursday night.