Costa Rica plane crash kills 5

The small plane went down in a mountainous area on the outskirts of the Costa Rican capital, San Jose. One of the six people on board is in a critical condition.

A small plane with six people on board crashed southeast of Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose, on Monday, leaving five dead, the Red Cross said.

A 31-year-old woman is said to be in critical condition.

The aircraft — a Cessna 206 Stationair — crashed near the Pico Blanco mountain shortly after midday after the plane lost communication and disappeared from the radar.

What do we know about the crash?

Search and rescue teams located the wreckage on the mountainside and arrived at the site of the accident after several hours of trying to access the steep wooded slopes.

The plane, which had taken off from Tortuguero, was scheduled to land at the Tobias Bolanos airport, east of San Jose, but due to bad weather conditions, it had to divert to the Juan Santamaria airport.

An official report on the cause of the crash is yet to be released.

The passengers of the aircraft were all from Costa Rica and were working in tourism companies, local reports said.