Plane crash kills 15 in Venezuela

As 36 passengers survive a plane mishap at least 15 people have lost their lives after a Venezuelan airliner crashed in the southeast of the country.

The ATR-42 turboprop, belonging to the state airline Conviasa, went down near the Manuel Carlos Piar airport, 10 kilometers from the city of Puerto Ordaz.

Transport Minister Francisco Garces said the plane was carrying 47 passengers and four crew members.

The pilot of the aircraft reportedly lost control of the plane after he took off from the resort island of Isla Margarita.

Only minutes before the crash at 1000 local time (1430 GMT), on Monday, he radioed the control tower, saying the plane was experiencing technical difficulties.

In the last major air crash in Venezuela in 2008, a plane crashed into the Andes mountains in the west of the country, killing all 46 people on board.