Nine dead as plane crashes into cars in Mexico

July 6, 2007

Nine people have been killed when a cargo plane failed to take off correctly at Culiacán Airport in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico yesterday.

The plane, owned by a mail courier company, is thought to have blown a tire during the take-off procedure, causing it to run off the end of the runway and break through a wall. It then crashed onto an adjacent highway, killing three crew members aboard the aircraft and six people on the road.

The six included two members of a security presence for Mexican President Felipe Calderón, who was due to arrive shortly after the incident for a day visit. A family of four were also killed when their car was engulfed by flames that were trailing the aircraft.

The President, who was in a plane en route to Culiacán at the time of the incident, cancelled his visit after hearing the news.

The accident comes during the rescue attempts following landslides in the central state of Puebla. Up to 60 people were killed in the slide the day prior to the Culiacán incident, according to local authorities.