Airplane carrying agriculture minister goes missing

The airplane was carrying Paraguayan Agriculture Minister Luis Gneiting when it went missing on its way to Asuncion. [Courtesy]

 

An airplane carrying Paraguayan Agriculture Minister Luis Gneiting went missing on Wednesday night while en route from the southern city of Ayolas to the capital Asuncion, an official at the country’s aviation authority told local radio.

A search and rescue operation began Wednesday night to locate the small plane and save the four people on board, said Ruben Aguilar, the administrator of the National Civil Aviation Directorate.

Gneiting, who took office two months ago, is a former governor of Itapua department, one of Paraguay’s main soy producing regions.

That plane disappeared, reported the airport in Asuncion. To contact the crew failed.

According to the publication, head of the National Secretariat for emergencies Joaquin ROA said that while nobody knows what exactly happened. The search area is quite broad, and the area is swampy, so the operation will attract a special technique.