Latest news with #Unitel
RNZ News
03-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Five people rescued almost two days after plane crashes into alligator-infested swamp
By Marlon Sorto and Caitlin Danaher , CNN This still from video released by the Bolivian Defense Ministry shows five people being rescued after their plane crashed in an Amazonian jungle. Photo: Supplied / Bolivian Defense Ministry Five people have been rescued from an alligator-infested swamp almost two days after their plane crashed in the Amazonian jungle in Bolivia. The small aircraft, carrying the pilot, three women and a child, crashed on Wednesday, but the group were not rescued until Friday morning, the Bolivian Defense Ministry said in a statement. None of the group were seriously injured and they survived on chocolate and cassava flour during the ordeal. The plane had taken off from the Baures municipality in northern Bolivia and was bound for the city of Trinidad, the Ministry said. An hour after take-off, the pilot reported technical issues before all contact with the aircraft was lost, according to the Ministry. The pilot, identified by local media outlets as 27-year-old Pablo Andrés Velarde, was able to carry out an emergency landing but landed near an alligator nest, he told local outlet Unitel. "We fell into a swamp, and right next to it, there was an alligator nest. But thanks to the fuel that spilled from the aircraft, it contaminated the water and the strong smell of that scared them off, not completely, but they didn't approach us to attack us," he told Unitel in an interview from his hospital bed on Friday. One survivor, Mirtha Fuentes, told local media of her emotional disbelief after surviving the plane crash. "We all cried with happiness because we were alive, with bruises, but alive and very lucky, thanks to God and the pilot's quick thinking and intelligence," she told Unitel. Bolivia's defense ministry and civil defense activated a search and rescue operation, but the first 48 hours were hindered by "adverse weather conditions," the ministry said. Multiple flights passed over the survivors but failed to spot them, local media reported. The group survived on rationed food recovered by the pilot from the submerged plane, the pilot told Unitel, before they were discovered by fishermen early Friday morning. The five survivors were airlifted to the city of Trinidad, in a rescue helicopter from Bolivia's Air Force, the defense ministry said. "Thanks to the work of our specialised personnel, at this time the five rescued individuals, including a child, are alive and we are making every effort to take them to safe areas and provide them with the medical attention they need," Bolivian president Luis Arce said in a statement. - CNN
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Five people rescued almost two days after plane crashes into alligator-infested swamp
Five people have been rescued from an alligator-infested swamp almost two days after their plane crashed in the Amazonian jungle in Bolivia. The small aircraft, carrying the pilot, three women and a child, crashed on Wednesday, but the group were not rescued until Friday morning, the Bolivian Defense Ministry said in a statement. None of the group were seriously injured and they survived on chocolate and cassava flour during the ordeal. The plane had taken off from the Baures municipality in northern Bolivia and was bound for the city of Trinidad, the Ministry said. An hour after take-off, the pilot reported technical issues before all contact with the aircraft was lost, according to the Ministry. The pilot, identified by local media outlets as 27-year-old Pablo Andrés Velarde, was able to carry out an emergency landing but landed near an alligator nest, he told local outlet Unitel. 'We fell into a swamp, and right next to it, there was an alligator nest. But thanks to the fuel that spilled from the aircraft, it contaminated the water and the strong smell of that scared them off, not completely, but they didn't approach us to attack us,' he told Unitel in an interview from his hospital bed on Friday. One survivor, Mirtha Fuentes, told local media of her emotional disbelief after surviving the plane crash. 'We all cried with happiness because we were alive, with bruises, but alive and very lucky, thanks to God and the pilot's quick thinking and intelligence,' she told Unitel. Bolivia's defense ministry and civil defense activated a search and rescue operation, but the first 48 hours were hindered by 'adverse weather conditions,' the ministry said. Multiple flights passed over the survivors but failed to spot them, local media reported. The group survived on rationed food recovered by the pilot from the submerged plane, the pilot told Unitel, before they were discovered by fishermen early Friday morning. The five survivors were airlifted to the city of Trinidad, in a rescue helicopter from Bolivia's Air Force, the defense ministry said. 'Thanks to the work of our specialized personnel, at this time the five rescued individuals, including a child, are alive and we are making every effort to take them to safe areas and provide them with the medical attention they need,' Bolivian president Luis Arce said in a statement.
CNN
03-05-2025
- General
- CNN
Five people rescued three days after plane crashes into alligator-infested swamp
Five people have been rescued from an alligator-infested swamp almost two days after their plane crashed in the Amazonian jungle in Bolivia. The small aircraft, carrying the pilot, three women and a child, crashed on Wednesday, but the group were not rescued until Friday morning, the Bolivian Defense Ministry said in a statement. None of the group were seriously injured and they survived on chocolate and cassava flour during the ordeal. The plane had taken off from the Baures municipality in northern Bolivia and was bound for the city of Trinidad, the Ministry said. An hour after take-off, the pilot reported technical issues before all contact with the aircraft was lost, according to the Ministry. The pilot, identified by local media outlets as 27-year-old Pablo Andrés Velarde, was able to carry out an emergency landing but landed near an alligator nest, he told local outlet Unitel. 'We fell into a swamp, and right next to it, there was an alligator nest. But thanks to the fuel that spilled from the aircraft, it contaminated the water and the strong smell of that scared them off, not completely, but they didn't approach us to attack us,' he told Unitel in an interview from his hospital bed on Friday. One survivor, Mirtha Fuentes, told local media of her emotional disbelief after surviving the plane crash. 'We all cried with happiness because we were alive, with bruises, but alive and very lucky, thanks to God and the pilot's quick thinking and intelligence,' she told Unitel. Bolivia's defense ministry and civil defense activated a search and rescue operation, but the first 48 hours were hindered by 'adverse weather conditions,' the ministry said. Multiple flights passed over the survivors but failed to spot them, local media reported. The group survived on rationed food recovered by the pilot from the submerged plane, the pilot told Unitel, before they were discovered by fishermen early Friday morning. The five survivors were airlifted to the city of Trinidad, in a rescue helicopter from Bolivia's Air Force, the defense ministry said. 'Thanks to the work of our specialized personnel, at this time the five rescued individuals, including a child, are alive and we are making every effort to take them to safe areas and provide them with the medical attention they need,' Bolivian president Luis Arce said in a statement.
CNN
03-05-2025
- General
- CNN
Five people rescued three days after plane crashes into alligator-infested swamp
Five people have been rescued from an alligator-infested swamp almost two days after their plane crashed in the Amazonian jungle in Bolivia. The small aircraft, carrying the pilot, three women and a child, crashed on Wednesday, but the group were not rescued until Friday morning, the Bolivian Defense Ministry said in a statement. None of the group were seriously injured and they survived on chocolate and cassava flour during the ordeal. The plane had taken off from the Baures municipality in northern Bolivia and was bound for the city of Trinidad, the Ministry said. An hour after take-off, the pilot reported technical issues before all contact with the aircraft was lost, according to the Ministry. The pilot, identified by local media outlets as 27-year-old Pablo Andrés Velarde, was able to carry out an emergency landing but landed near an alligator nest, he told local outlet Unitel. 'We fell into a swamp, and right next to it, there was an alligator nest. But thanks to the fuel that spilled from the aircraft, it contaminated the water and the strong smell of that scared them off, not completely, but they didn't approach us to attack us,' he told Unitel in an interview from his hospital bed on Friday. One survivor, Mirtha Fuentes, told local media of her emotional disbelief after surviving the plane crash. 'We all cried with happiness because we were alive, with bruises, but alive and very lucky, thanks to God and the pilot's quick thinking and intelligence,' she told Unitel. Bolivia's defense ministry and civil defense activated a search and rescue operation, but the first 48 hours were hindered by 'adverse weather conditions,' the ministry said. Multiple flights passed over the survivors but failed to spot them, local media reported. The group survived on rationed food recovered by the pilot from the submerged plane, the pilot told Unitel, before they were discovered by fishermen early Friday morning. The five survivors were airlifted to the city of Trinidad, in a rescue helicopter from Bolivia's Air Force, the defense ministry said. 'Thanks to the work of our specialized personnel, at this time the five rescued individuals, including a child, are alive and we are making every effort to take them to safe areas and provide them with the medical attention they need,' Bolivian president Luis Arce said in a statement.
ARN News Center
19-02-2025
- ARN News Center
At least 30 killed after Bolivia bus plunges into ravine
A passenger bus plunged into an 800-meter-deep abyss in southern Bolivia on Monday, killing at least 30 people and injuring 15, police and local media said. The bodies of "at least 30" people have been recovered and transported to morgues after the accident near the town of Yocalla, police colonel Victor Benavides told AFP. The accident happened on a narrow two-way road between the cities of Potosi and Oruro, with the route running along a ravine nearly half a mile deep. Local news outlet Unitel reported at least 15 people injured in the crash -- including three children -- had been transferred to hospital. Several were in a serious condition. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board the bus. Authorities said their initial theory was that the crash was caused by speeding, with the driver "unable" to control the bus, according to Benavides. This is the most serious road accident reported in the South American country so far this year. Nineteen people were killed when another bus careened off a road, also near Potosi, last month. Bolivia's winding mountain roads are notoriously deadly.
