27 Die in Crash of Plane With Pilgrims Aboard
A twin-engine commercial airliner crashed into a sorghum field outside this southern Mexico city and burst into flames Thursday, killing 27 of the people aboard, authorities said.
Those killed included Bishop Luis Miguel Canton Marin and two other priests who were flying in for Pope John Paul II’s scheduled visit today to Tuxtla Gutierrez, about 375 miles southeast of Mexico City.
A spokesman for the state-run airline Aviacsa, which owned the Dutch-made Fokker F-27 turboprop, said there were 35 passengers and five crew on board.
The flight originated in Tapuchala, near the border with Guatemala, where Canton, 49, was the bishop.
Police commander Jorge Luis Yanez said the crash occurred about three miles from the airport outside the capital of Chiapas state.
“It’s just terrible, and to think that this happened the day before the Pope’s visit,” he said.
Yanez said mechanical difficulties were believed responsible for the crash.
The Pope is due to arrive today at Tuxtla Gutierrez, where he will say a Mass during a brief visit before departing for the nearby city of Villahermosa.
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