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CARACAS, Venezuela — A commercial airliner with 46 people aboard disappeared Thursday in southwestern Venezuela, and authorities said they believed it crashed after residents reported hearing a thunderous noise in the mountains.
Search teams were dispatched to the Venezuelan Andes near the city of Merida, from where the plane departed. The flight was reported missing 30 minutes after takeoff.
Rescue crews were being sent to the mountainous area of Collado del Condor today, at an altitude of about 13,000 feet, where residents reported by phone “that they heard a great crash,” said Noel Marquez, the emergency management director in Merida state.
