132 die in Colombian plane crash

All 132 passengers and crew were killed when a Colombian airliner crashed on a flight from Panama to Bogota, Reuters reports from Medellin. The Boeing 727-100 of the SAM airline ploughed into a remote mountainside in north-west Colombia just before it was due to land in Medellin.

The Colombian pilots' association called for an immediate halt to flights to Medellin, saying the airport's lack of direction-finding equipment - blown up by left-wing guerrillas last year - was a factor in the crash.