Two planes carrying 12 people missing in northeast South Africa

[News_Editor]

Two planes carrying 12 people missing in northeast South Africa

2011-08-16 12:07:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

TZANEEN, SOUTH AFRICA (BNO NEWS) -- South African search-and-rescue teams on Tuesday morning resumed a search in the country's northeast after two planes carrying a total of 12 people went missing during severe weather on Sunday.

The two Albatross planes, carrying six people each, went missing on Sunday in the George's Valley area between Polokwane and Tzaneen, a town located in the Mopani district of Limpopo province. The planes had both taken off from a landing strip in Tzaneen and were heading to Rand Airport in Germiston.

On Monday, a community leader in the area informed police that he had seen the two small planes go down in an area which is difficult to reach by both air and land. "The reports were disturbing to us and the family," a police spokesperson told the South African Press Association (SAPA).

Officials believe the planes may have crashed into a mountain or collided in mid-air before crashing in the region, but rescue efforts have been hampered by severe weather conditions in the region. A search operation suspended on Monday evening resumed on Tuesday morning at first light.

Those on board the aircraft were returning from an air show in Tzaneen, and among the passengers was a coordinator of the annual Durban air show, which was held last month.

In early February, Italtile CEO Gian-Paolo Ravazzotti Ravazzotti and eight of his colleagues and business partners were killed when his business plane crashed in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

And in October 1986, Mozambican president Samora Machel and 33 others were killed when the Mozambican presidential plane crashed into the Lebombo Mountains in South Africa. Ten people survived the accident, but it remains the country's deadliest accident to death.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-08-16