NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – All eight people on board a twin engine Cessna 402 aircraft were killed today when it crashed en route to San Salvador, in the southern Bahamas, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has said.
He said that the flight originated here and that “tragically, eight persons, the pilot of the aircraft and his seven passengers, perished in the crash.
“I am advised that all passengers are believed to be Bahamian nationals,” Ingraham said as he extended condolences “to the families and friends of each of the individuals who met their untimely deaths early this afternoon.
The identities of those killed in the plane crash were not disclosed.
Ingraham said that “all relevant government agencies are lending their assistance in this tragic matter. Further, a thorough investigation of the crash will be conducted by the relevant authorities”.
The twin-engine Cessna plummeted into Lake Killarney near the international airport in the capital, Nassau, after one of its engines caught fire, said Hulan Hanna, an Assistant Commissioner with the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
He said seven bodies were pulled from the shallow, brackish lake. An eighth person who suffered a broken neck died after being pulled from the wreckage.
The private charter was heading to the small island of San Salvador in the southern Bahamas, said Shonalee Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Nassau Airport Development Company. (CMC)
