Five people survive 36 hours in alligator-filled Amazon swamp after plane crash

LA PAZ: Five people survived for 36 hours in a swamp filled with alligators after an emergency landing in the Bolivian Amazon, local authorities and the pilot said Friday. 

Everyone on board -- three women, a child, and the 29-year-old pilot -- were rescued from their perch atop the capsized plane in "excellent condition," said Wilson Avila, director of the emergency operations center in the Beni region.

The plane was flying from the town of Baures to the north-central city of Trinidad, 180 kilometers away, when it ran into trouble.

Andres Velarde, the 29-year-old pilot of the single-engine aircraft, told local media from his hospital bed that the plane suddenly began to lose altitude. 

He looked for an open space to land but had to settle for a swamp near a lagoon.

The five found themselves "surrounded by alligators that came within three meters of us," Velarde said, adding he suspected that the kerosene leaking from the plane had kept the toothy predators at bay. 

He said they also saw an anaconda in the murky waters.

For sustenance, they ate a local cassava flour that one of the passengers had brought on the trip.

"We couldn't drink water and we couldn't go anywhere else because of the alligators," Velarde said.

The five were rescued after being spotted by local fishermen and taken to hospital.

People frequently use air taxis in the Beni area, due to the lack of paved roads and the poor maintenance of those that do exist.