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Survivors of Amazon plane crash found

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-31 02:38

RIO DE JANEIRO: The Brazilian Air Force announced on Friday that the small plane which crashed in the Amazon rainforest region on Thursday has been found with nine survivors.

The plane has been found by Indians from the Matis tribe.

According to the National Health Foundation (Funasa), which employed several of the plane's occupants, there are nine survivors.

However, the Air Force has yet to confirm that information. There is no information about the survivors' health conditions, either.

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The plane, a Cessna C-98 Caravan model which belonged to the Air Force, disappeared from the radar on Thursday morning while it was flying over the state of Amazonas.

The pilot sent a distress signal 58 minutes after taking off from the town of Cruzeiro do Sul, in neighboring Acre state.

According to the Air Force, the weather conditions in the area at the time of the accident were satisfactory.

Eleven people were traveling in the aircraft, four military and seven Funasa employees.

The group was participating in a Health Ministry operation to vaccinate over 3,700 Indians from various tribes in the Javari Valley region, as well as other inhabitants of distant areas.

The Air Force sent the search teams to the location provided by the Matis Indians. A total of eight planes and helicopters are participating in the search efforts.