Caracas: Fifteen people died in a plane crash in eastern Venezuela, but 36 others miraculously survived after the pilot alerted air traffic control that something was wrong moments before disaster struck.
The plane, carrying 47 passengers and four crew Monday from the Venezuelan Caribbean resort island of Margarita, burst into flames as it hit the ground near a steel works owned by Sidor, in mainland Bolivar state.
"In total we have 36 survivors and 15 dead. The survivors are being looked after," said Transport and Communications Minister Francisco Garces.
"Given the condition of the plane, I think we were very lucky."
Most of the survivors had sustained burns and were traumatised by the event, but none was in life-threatening condition, Garces said.
The Conviasa Airlines ATR-42-300 plane went down about six miles (10 kilometres) from Puerto Ordaz, on the Orinoco River. It broke in two and caught fire as it hit the ground. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
Officials said the quick response by the emergency services after the pilot warned air traffic control that the flight was in trouble prevented a higher death toll.
Rescuers arrived at the scene quickly with medical helicopters to fly the wounded to local hospitals that had been placed on alert. A burns unit was also on stand-by to treat those caught in the blazing wreckage.
"There's been a miracle here," said Bolivar state Governor Francisco Rangel Gomez.
President Hugo Chavez issued a statement expressing his "deepest...condolences and solidarity" with the victims of the crash.
