FILE PHOTO: Governor of Itapua Luis Roberto Gneiting addresses the media during a news conference, in Asuncion, Paraguay April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Adorno

ASUNCION (Reuters) - Paraguay Agriculture Minister Luis Gneiting and three others died when the twin engine airplane carrying them to the capital Asuncion crashed into a wetland on Wednesday night, an official told reporters on Thursday.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the deaths of four people on a flight that had an accident,” said Joaquin Roa, the head of the National Emergency Secretariat, adding that emergency workers were currently trying to recover the bodies and that the aircraft was “totally disintegrated.”

A search and rescue team located the small aircraft on Thursday morning six kilometers (3.73 miles) from the airport in the southern city of Ayolas, where the plane took off, Luis Aguirre, head of the National Civil Aviation Directorate told Reuters.

“The remains of the plane were found in a wetland. The tip of the tail is visible and the rest of the plane is underwater,” Aguirre said.

Aguirre added that the plane was only in the air for two or three minutes and did not reach a high altitude before falling. Gneiting’s vice-minister for cattle, Vicente Ramirez, and the plane’s pilot and co-pilot also died in the crash. The pilot, Gerardo López, was a former agriculture vice-minister.

Gneiting, who took office two months ago, is a former governor of Itapua department, one of Paraguay’s main soy producing regions.

“All of Pagaguay is in mourning over this accident,” President-elect Mario Abdo, who will take office on Aug. 15, told reporters.</s>ASUNCION, Paraguay — Paraguay’s agriculture minister and three other people have died in the crash of a small plane.

Civil Aeronautics official Ruben Aguilar says the twin-engine Beechcraft Baron went down in a marshy area shortly after taking off Wednesday night from the airport in Ayolas, some 235 miles (380 kilometres) south of the capital, Asuncion.

The dead included Agriculture Minister Luis Gneiting, Vice Minister Vicente Ramirez and the pilot and co-pilot.

Aguilar says investigators will begin trying to determine the cause of the crash and the reason by an emergency beacon failed to activate — a factor that apparently slowed rescue efforts.</s>A plane carrying Paraguayan Agriculture Minister Luis Gneiting has been found by search and rescue teams after it went missing on Wednesday evening, an official at the country's aviation authority told local radio.The aircraft was found 6km away from Ayolas airport, where it took off. It was en route to the country's capital, Asuncion, according to Luis Aguirre, head of the National Civil Aviation Directorate.The plane was carrying the agriculture minister along with three others. Aguirre said he still didn't have any information on the passengers.Gneiting's vice minister for cattle, Vicente Ramirez, was also aboard the plane, Aguirre added.The rescue team found the twin engine aircraft on Thursday morning.Aguirre said the plane had only been flying for two or three minutes and did not reach a high altitude before it fell.Pictures of the incident have started to emerge on social media.According to local media, the two other passengers were technician Luis Charotti and the pilot, Gerardo López.The plane reportedly took off on Wednesday at 6:22 pm local time, according to ABC Color.</s>ASUNCION (Reuters) - An airplane carrying Paraguayan Agriculture Minister Luis Gneiting fell to the ground shortly after taking off on Wednesday night, and survivors are unlikely, an official at the country’s aviation authority told Reuters on Thursday.

A search and rescue team located the small, twin engine aircraft on Thursday morning six kilometers (3.73 miles) from the airport in the southern city of Ayolas, where the plane took off en route to capital Asuncion, Luis Aguirre, head of the National Civil Aviation Directorate told Reuters.

Aguirre said it was unlikely that any of the four passengers had survived, but said he did not have information yet since the rescue team had not yet reached the plane.

“The remains of the plane were found in a wetland. The tip of the tail is visible and the rest of the plane is underwater,” Aguirre said. “Based on what we can see, and this is unofficial, there are no survivors.”

Aguirre added that the plane was only in the air for two or three minutes and did not reach a high altitude before falling. Gneiting’s vice minister for cattle, Vicente Ramirez, was also aboard the plane.

Gneiting, who took office two months ago, is a former governor of Itapua department, one of Paraguay’s main soy producing regions.</s>ASUNCION (Reuters) - A search and rescue team on Thursday morning located a fallen airplane carrying Paraguayan Agriculture Minister Luis Gneiting that went missing on Wednesday night, an official at the country’s aviation authority told local radio.

The small aircraft was found six 6 km (3.73 miles) from the airport in the southern city of Ayolas, where the plane took off en route to the capital, Asuncion, said Luis Aguirre, head of the National Civil Aviation Directorate.

Aguirre said he did not have information about whether the four passengers had survived.

Gneiting, who took office two months ago, is a former governor of Itapua department, one of Paraguay’s main soy producing regions.</s>Paraguayan authorities said Thursday that they see little chance of survivors in the crash of a small plane carrying Agriculture Minister Luis Gneiting and three other people.

"From what we can see of the scene, I believe the possibilities that anyone survived continue to diminish," Ruben Aguilar, administrator of Asuncion International Airport, told EFE.</s>ASUNCION: An airplane carrying Paraguayan Agriculture Minister Luis Gneiting went missing on Wednesday night while en route from the southern city of Ayolas to the capital Asuncion, an official at the country's aviation authority told local radio.

A search and rescue operation began Wednesday night to locate the small plane and save the four people on board, said Ruben Aguilar, the administrator of the National Civil Aviation Directorate.

Gneiting, who took office two months ago, is a former governor of Itapua department, one of Paraguay's main soy producing regions.</s>Paraguay's National Youth Ministry (SNJ) on Tuesday presented "Paraguay Joven 2030," a document containing guidelines and recommendations for all public policy to take the nation's young people into account.

The Cabinet minister who heads the SNJ, Magali Caceres, said during the event that such document constitutes "a roadmap built with youths from various sectors across the 17 provinces, with clear and concise youth-oriented policies."
Paraguay's Minister of Agriculture, Luis Gneiting, and three others are killed in a plane crash near Ayolas.