A plane carrying crew members working on a film starring Tom Cruise has crashed in Colombia, killing two people.
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| People look at wreckage of movie crew plane in Colombia: abc.net.au |
The crew had just wrapped up production on the upcoming Doug Liman film, Mena, when it went down Friday (local time) while returning to Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellin.
"On behalf of the production, our hearts and prayers go out to the crew members and their families at this difficult time," Universal Pictures said in a statement.
The plane went down near the town of San Pedro de los Milagros, in a mountainous area of Colombia's department of Antioquia.
The twin-engine aircraft crashed on Friday about 5:30pm local time, Uriel Bedoya of the national civil aviation authority Aerocivil said.
Cruise arrived in Colombia on August 20 to record scenes for the film which is based on the life of American pilot Barry Seal, who worked for drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, who was killed in Medellin in 1993.
The two deceased passengers, both Americans, were identified as Alan Purwin and Carlos Berl.
The plane's pilot, Jimmy Lee Garland, was injured in the crash and is being treated at a Medellin hospital, where aviation officials said his condition was stable.
Garland suffered a hip fracture and other injuries, and underwent surgery on Saturday.
Gilberto Mazo, a local civil defence official, said Garland was conscious when rescuers reached him.
"There was nothing we could do for [the other two]," Jose Ramirez, an area resident who rushed to the crash site, said.
But Garland, who was trapped inside the crashed plane, "was saying 'Get me out of here'," Mr Ramirez said.
"We took him out on a blanket until the ambulance came for him."