All 24 people on board a Venezuelan DC3, including 18 foreign tourists, were killed when the aging plane crashed into a slum in the south of the country, officials said.
A civil defence chief said 21 passengers and three crew were killed when the plane, owned by the small local airline Rutaca, plunged to the ground in the outskirts of Ciudad Bolivar.
The Globovision television channel said the dead comprised five Dutch passengers, four Italians, two Hungarians, six US citizens, one Austrian and six Venezuelans, including the three crew.
It was one of the worst air accidents in the South American country's history. The tourists were flying from the popular holiday destination of Canaima, near the site of the world's tallest waterfall Angel Falls, to the Caribbean island of Margarita.
Officials said the pilot had just taken off after refueling in Ciudad Bolivar, about 300 miles southeast of Caracas, when he reported difficulties.
The plane was attempting to return to the airport when it burst into flames in mid-air and plunged into the slum, smashing one of the shacks.
A 22-year-old woman and her two children, including a six month baby, were being treated for severe burns, Globovision said. The television network showed rescue workers carrying charred bodies from the wreckage, which was still in flames more than four hours after the crash.
Authorities said 13 of the dead were men, eight were women, and three bodies were too badly burned to identify. An airport official told Globovision that the DC3 was at least 50 years old, and was carrying close to its limit of passengers.
Reuters