3 Americans, 1 Panamanian die in Colombia plane crash

BOGOTA, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Three Americans and a Panamanian died Saturday when a plane on a U.S. drug surveillance flight crashed in Columbia, the U.S. military said.

Two Americans survived when the Dash 8 twin-engine propeller aircraft went down in the northern region of the South American country, NBC News reported.

Col. Greg Julian of the U.S. Southern Command said Colombian search-and-rescue teams rescued the survivors, who were flown to a hospital in Colombia.

The plane had taken off from a U.S. base in Panama with four U.S. contractors for the Air Force, one U.S. serviceman and one Panamanian on board. Julian said the cause of the crash was unclear.

"We express our sympathies to the families of the deceased, and are particularly saddened by the loss of a Panamanian Air National Guardsman," Gen. John Kelly, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said. "We also want to thank the Colombians for their outstanding rescue and recovery efforts."