Plane With 75 Aboard Crashes In Uruguay

A plane carrying 75 people from the northern city of Posadas to Buenos Aires crashed in neighboring Uruguay late Friday after changing its route to avoid a heavy storm, Argentina’s border guard said.

The DC-9 aircraft, belonging to the Argentine company, Austral, last made contact with Buenos Aires metropolitan airport at 10:20 p.m. (6:20 p.m. PDT), air force official Jorge Carnevalini said early Saturday.

The local border guard said the plane crashed about 40 minutes later near the town of Nuevo Berlin, on the banks of the Rio Uruguay, a river which separates the two countries.

There were 70 passengers, including three infants, and a crew of five aboard the plane, Austral commercial manager Santiago Garcia said.

The crew had last reported they were altering their flight path to avoid a heavy storm around the Argentine capital. Carnevalini said hail and heavy rain had been reported in the area Friday night.