Saltillo, Mexico, May 6 (EFE).- All 13 people aboard an executive jet that went missing en route from the US city of Las Vegas to Monterrey, Mexico, perished when the plane crashed near the town of Ocampo, authorities in Coahuila state said Monday.
The aircraft, a Bombardier Challenger 601, was reported missing Sunday evening.
The jet took off around 5.00 pm Sunday from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas bound for the business hub of Monterrey, capital of Nuevo Leon state.
“An aerial sighting permitted us to locate the remains of the airplane in a difficult-to-access mountainous zone of the municipality of Ocampo,” the state government said in a statement.
Officials from various state and federal agencies were on their way to the crash site, the statement said.
Earlier Monday, Coahuila’s public safety secretary said that first responders were searching for the missing plane.
“We are attending to the case because reports and alerts came from the civil aviation community,” Jose Luis Pliego Corono said. “It’s not about false information that suddenly appeared in social media, but an alert that emerged precisely from the civil aviation community.”
Media outlets said the 10 passengers aboard the aircraft flew to Las Vegas for Saturday’s boxing match pitting Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez against US fighter Daniel Jacobs.
Alvarez triumphed in the bout at T-Mobile Arena to unify three middleweight world titles.
The boxer extended condolences Monday to the loved ones of the crash victims.
“I lament deeply the terrible accident of the airplane coming from Vegas. I give heart-felt thanks to all the people who travel to see my fights. My prayers are with their families,” Alvarez said on Twitter.
It’s common for wealthy Mexicans to charter planes to attend major sporting events in the United States.
The Coahuila government provided a list of the dead based on the flight manifest.
Killed were pilot Juan Jose Aguilar Talavera; first officer Luis Ovidio Gonzalez Flores; flight attendant Adriana Monserrath Mejia Sanchez and the 10 passengers: Martha Isabel Garcia Lagunes, Gary Amauri Vela Garcia, Manuel Alejandro Sepulveda Gonzalez, Frida Alejandrina Reyes Luna,
Monica Leticia Salinas Treviño, Ramon Amauri Vela, Jade Paola Reyes Luna, Luis Octavio Reyes Dominguez, Loyda Liliana Luna Larrosa and Guillermo Octavio Reyes Luna.
EFE