A US government plane carrying four Americans and one Colombian crashed yesterday in a jungle area of southern Colombia controlled by Marxist rebels, Colombian officials said.
They said investigators had found two bodies near the crash site and that a search-and-rescue mission was under way.
Colombia's military said the victims were four Americans and a Colombian, but State Department spokesman Mr Charles Barclay said in Washington he could not confirm the nationalities.
The single-engine Cessna 208 crashed near the city of Florencia, capital of Caqueta province, as it was attempting an emergency landing after engine failure, US Embassy officials in Bogota said.
The Cessna was involved in "intelligence missions" when it crashed near the village of Puerto Rico, 250 miles south of Bogota, Colombia's military said. US officials declined to comment.