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One black box found in Venezuelan wreck

CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Venezuelan investigators searching Wednesday through the wreckage of a Colombian plane located the flight data recorder but not the cockpit voice recorder.

The charter flight traveling from Panama to Martinique with 152 French passengers and eight Colombian crewmembers crashed Tuesday after the pilot reported both engines had failed.

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Much of the plane disintegrated and only the tail of the plane is recognizable, the BBC said.

Early Wednesday, workers had recovered 135 bodies, most of which were in pieces, local Mayor Alfonso Marquez said.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Jesse Chacon said the pilot had asked for authorization to enter Venezuelan air space and land at Maracaibo airport because of problems with one of the engines. The pilot then reported that the second engine was also failing and the aircraft quickly began losing altitude.

The MD-82 came down near the town of Machiques 520 miles west of Caracas.

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