Two victims of a Cessna 172 crash in La Plaine’s mountains have been found. Dominica January 26, National Security Minister Rayburn Blackmoore informed reporters Monday.
Tragic accident involved four people.
The Douglas-Charles Airport-to-Martinique airliner crashed shortly after takeoff and lost contact about 3:46pm.
The next day, rescuers found the wreckage on a “mountain top” at La Plaine, on the island’s southeast coast.
National Security Minister Rayburn Blackmoore stressed the crash site’s inaccessibility.
“We were able to get the assistance of the French because it was clear then it would have been impossible to access that crash by foot,” he told the press briefing.
Martinique-based French rescue teams provided a helicopter and high-risk people.They helped rescue efforts find and recover two of the four bodies from the crash site.
The remaining two victims were remained trapped inside the wreckage, hampering recovery attempts, Blackmoore said.By Wednesday, it was evident that the current method would need to be modified because rescuing the final bodies was impossible due to the terrain and wreckage.
The island is shaken by the incident, and local authorities have thanked the French team for their quick and professional assistance.
The Dominica Air and Sea Ports Authority (DASPA) acknowledged the aircraft lost contact shortly after departure but did not provide a crash cause.
The French are investigating what happened, and recovery teams are taking the victims home.
Dominica’s national security minister says the victims haven’t been revealed to the press to protect mourning relatives.
