‘No survivors’ after jet crashed in Mexico’s remote mountain area

A plane crash in a remote mountain region in northern Mexico has claimed the lives of all 13 people on board, including a family of five that was flying back after watching a boxing match in Las Vegas.

The wreckage of the small private jet that took off from Las Vegas on Sunday was found via aerial surveillance in the northern municipality of Ocampo, the government of Coahuila state said in a statement on Monday.

“There were no survivors seen,” the statement said.

A photograph published on local television network Milenio showed what it said were the burnt remnants of the plane, broken into pieces, spread over charred earth.

Mexican media reported that the passengers had been to a boxing match between Mexican boxer Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and US fighter Daniel Jacobs in Las Vegas on Saturday.

The victims were between 19 and 57 years old, according to a version of the passenger list published in Mexican media.

In a statement, Canada’s Bombardier Inc identified the jet as a Challenger 601 and said the plane had gone missing about 280 kilometres from the northern Mexican city of Monclova.

Expressing its condolences to the victims, the company said it had been in touch with Canada’s transportation safety board and would work with the investigating authorities.

Mexico’s civil aviation authority said the aircraft departed from Las Vegas shortly before 3pm local time (22:00 GMT). Nearly two hours later, Monterrey lost track of the jet and was unable to make contact with pilots, it said in a statement.

Mexican broadcaster Televisa said that the pilot had intended to descend to avoid a storm.

Francisco Martinez, an emergency services official in Coahuila, told Milenio recent adverse weather conditions would form part of the investigation into the crash. However, he stopped short of saying weather had caused it.