Due To Engine Damage, Plane Crashes On Highway In Haiti: Six People Killed, Including The Pilot

JAKARTA - A small plane crashed into a busy highway in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince due to damage, killing at least six people including the pilot, officials said.

The plane took off from Port-au-Prince airport at 3:44 p.m. Wednesday local time, en route to the Haitian city of Jacmel, Haiti's civil aviation authority said, adding the plane had suffered an engine failure and sent a distress alert at 4:04 p.m.

"I extend my sympathies to the families of the victims, who have just been plunged into the greatest sorrow by this new tragedy," Prime Minister Ariel Henry wrote on Twitter, without specifying the number of people killed or injured, citing Reuters, April 21.

Separately, Jude Edouard Pierre, mayor of the Carrefour commune where the plane crashed, said six people had died. A government source said the pilot died after being taken to hospital.

Meanwhile, a video circulating on WhatsApp shows the wreckage of the plane breaking apart in the middle of the road along with what appears to be the bodies of the victims of the crash. Reuters was unable to independently verify the origin of the video.