Mexico City - A plane crash in a remote
mountain region in northern Mexico claimed the lives of all 13
people on board, including a family of five that were flying
back from watching a boxing match in Las Vegas, authorities and
local media said on Monday.
The wreckage of the plane that took off from Las Vegas on
Sunday was found via aerial surveillance in the northern
municipality of Ocampo, the government of Coahuila state said in
a statement.
A photograph published on local television network Milenio
showed what it said were the burnt remnants of the plane, broken
into pieces, spread over charred earth.
Mexican media reported that the passengers had been to a
boxing match between Mexican boxer Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and
US fighter Daniel Jacobs in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The nationalities of the victims were not immediately clear.
The surnames of the three crew and 10 passengers published by
the Coahuila government were all Hispanic.
The victims were between 19 and 57 years old, according to a
version of the passenger list published in Mexican media.
Newspaper Diario de Yucatan said on its website that among
the victims were 55-year-old businessman Luis Octavio Reyes
Dominguez, his wife, and their three children.
In a statement, Canada's Bombardier Inc identified
the jet as a Challenger 601 and said the plane had gone missing
about 150 nautical miles from the northern Mexican city of
Monclova.
Expressing its condolences to the victims, the company said
it had been in touch with Canada's transportation safety board
and would work with the investigating authorities.
Alvarez was saddened to hear of the crash.
"I deeply lament the terrible accident of the plane coming
from Vegas," he wrote on Twitter on Monday. "I'm deeply grateful
for the support of all the people who travel to see my fights.
My prayers are with their families."
Mexico's civil aviation authority said the aircraft departed
Las Vegas shortly before 3 p.m. local time. Nearly two hours
later, Monterrey lost track of the jet and was unable to make
contact with pilots, it said in a statement.
Mexican broadcaster Televisa said that the pilot had
intended to descend to avoid a storm.
Francisco Martinez, an emergency services official in
Coahuila, told Milenio recent adverse weather conditions would
form part of the investigation into the crash. However, he
stopped short of saying weather had caused it.