At least 20 people were killed Thursday when a plane on a domestic flight in the former Dutch colony of Suriname crashed, airport officials said.
The Russian made Blue Wing plane took off from the airport at 10:00 am (1400 GMT) and crashed about an hour later near the French Guiana border, killing 18 passengers and two pilots. The flight was bound for the town of Bennzborp, a mining area near French Guiana, on the north-eastern shoulder of South America.
The company flies within Suriname and to French Guiana and Europe.