16 August,2010 10:17 PM IST | | Agencies
A Columbian aircraft carrying 131 passengers, including six crew members, broke into three pieces on Monday morning at San Andres Island. All but one person survived the crash.
San Andres Gov. Pedro Gallardo said of the fact that the only person killed was Amar Fernandez de Barreto, 65, who is believed to have died of heart attack.
The plane, en route to the island from the Columbian capital of Bogota, arrived in the middle of an electrical storm. The crash took place at 1.49 AM local time, and Colombian Air Force Col. David Barrero said officials were investigating reports that the Aires airliner had been hit by lightning prior to the crash.
Luckily, in terms of rescuing passengers and crew, a group of police officers had been waiting at the airport for that same plane to take them back to the Colombian mainland. Those off-duty officers assisted in the rescue of crash survivors.
