Chile finds wreckage, human remains believed to be from missing airplane

Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Chilean authorities said Wednesday they found what they believe to be parts of a C-130 Hercules military transport plane that crashed on its way to Antarctica on Monday, possibly killing all 38 people on board.

The country's Air Force said a fishing vessel found foam from the plane's interior 19 miles from its last known position. The plane was traveling to Chile's President Eduardo Frei Montalva Antarctica Air Base on the Antarctic coast.

Magallanes region Gov. Jose Fernandez said the Air Force confirmed to him that human remains were found with the discovered wreckage.

"They told us that they had found other airplane debris as well as human remains from those on board," Fernandez said in Punta Arenas, where some family members had gathered while rescue efforts continued.

Chilean authorities expanded the search area early Wednesday in hope of finding clues to what happened with the plane.

Brazil's Navy assisted in rescue and recovery efforts and gathered some debris.

"The parts of the plane and the objects were found approximately 280 nautical miles from Ushuaia in Argentina," Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter. "The Brazilian Navy ship remains in the search area in coordinated actions with the Chilean authorities and two boats from the ship continue collecting remains."

The United States, Uruguay and Argentina assisted in the efforts with search vessels as well. Chile government spokeswoman Karla Rubilar said Wednesday the government did not have any additional information on the plane crash.