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Plane carrying 12 people crashes in Costa Rica

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Plane carrying 12 people crashes in Costa Rica

Ministry of Public Security
A plane crashed in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, in the Punta Islita area, Dec. 31, 2017.

    A plane carrying 12 people has crashed in Guancaste, Costa Rica, with at least some of the people on board having died, according to the country's Ministry of Public Security.

    The wreckage of the plane, a private aircraft belonging to the airline Nature Air, was on fire and no one responded, according to the ministry.

    PHOTO: A plane crashed in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, in the Punta Islita area, Dec. 31, 2017.Ministry of Public Security
    A plane crashed in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, in the Punta Islita area, Dec. 31, 2017.

    Two Costa Rican crew members and 10 foreigners were on board, the ministry said.

    The crash took place at 12:15 p.m. after the plane left Punta Islita Airport bound for San Jose, the Costa Rican capital, a ministry spokesperson said. The spokesperson would not confirm the nationalities of those on board.

    A State Department spokesperson said they are aware of the reports of a plane crash and are working with local authorities to determine whether there are U.S. citizens involved.

    Dawn and Matthew Wolfe, who have been vacationing in Costa Rica for a month, said they and their three children were sitting in a restaurant near Punta Islita Airport when the plane took off. They said within minutes after takeoff the plane took a nose dive and crashed.

    "When I saw it sideways, I thought, 'Oh, is this a plane doing a trick?' I thought, and then I went, 'Wait, that's a big plane to do a trick,' and then it … I mean, it … We just … Our heart sank, we got some pain in our stomachs," Dawn Wolfe told ABC News. "I looked at my husband and said, 'You need to go,' and right at that time two other gentlemen were running up the road, so my husband just ran with them, and they just started right toward the wreckage."

    ABC News' Kathleen Hendry contributed to this report.

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    Source – abcnews.go.com

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