Embraer plane crashes in Namibia, killing 34.
Flight TM 470 left Maputo on Friday, bound for Angola's capital, Luanda. During the flight, the aircraft lost contact with air traffic controllers, the airline said in a statement.
WINDHOEK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A Mozambique Airlines plane bound for Angola crashed in a national park in northeastern Namibia, killing all 34 people on board, Namibian police said on Saturday.
According to a statement released on the airline's website, there was a Brazilian among the passengers.
Flight TM 470 left Maputo on Friday, bound for Angola's capital, Luanda. During the flight, the aircraft lost contact with air traffic controllers, the airline said in a statement.
Namibian Deputy Police Commissioner Willy Bampton stated that rescue teams found the burned wreckage of the plane in the dense forest of Bwabwata National Park, near the border with Angola and Botswana.
"The plane was completely burned and there are no survivors," Bampton stated.
A park ranger stated that the plane's black boxes, including the cockpit voice recorder, have been located and handed over to investigators.
Namibia's air accident investigation authority had launched a helicopter search for the plane on Friday, but called it off due to heavy rain, an investigator said, adding that the search resumed on Saturday.
The park is home to many wild animals, such as elephants, lions, and wild dogs.
Mozambican authorities said the plane, an Embraer SA 190, disappeared on Friday amid bad weather and low visibility.
In a statement on its website, Mozambique Airlines listed the nationalities of the passengers. In addition to one Brazilian, there were 10 Mozambicans, nine Angolans, five Portuguese, one Frenchman, and one Chinese national on board.
(Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher in Johannesburg and Manuel Mucari in Maputo; Editing by Janet Lawrence)