SEATTLE, United States (AFP) — Wreckage of a plane carrying a skydiving team was found in dense forest in the center of the northwest US state of Washington with no sign of survivors, emergency officials said late Monday.
Seven bodies were discovered and rescuers were to resume looking Tuesday morning for the other three from the wreckage of the single-engine Cessna 208B Grand Caravan.
The plane, carrying a pilot and nine passengers, vanished during a flight from neighboring Idaho to Shelton, in southwest Washington on Sunday.
The skydiving team based in Snohomish, Washington was returning from a competition in Boise, Idaho when it disappeared from radar near the rugged Cascade mountains south of Seattle.
According to the local Yakima County sherrif's office, rescuers were led by the smell of fuel to the wreckage around 7:40 pm Monday (0240 GMT Tuesday).
Washington department of transport official Nisha Marvel earlier said that a hunter in the area where the plane disappeared had reported seeing a low-flying aircraft followed by what sounded like a crash.
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