Eleven Colombian Military Personnel Killed In Plane Crash

Eleven Colombian military personnel were killed on Friday when their transport plane suffered motor failure and crashed in the northern province of Cesar, killing all on board, according to a statement from the Air Force.

The burned hulk of the plane was found near the town of Codazzi, about 600 km (372 miles) northeast of Bogota near the border with Venezuela.

President Juan Manuel Santos called the victims "heroes" in a tweet.

Airbus, the manufacturer of the CN235 aircraft, said in a statement that the plane was produced in Seville, Spain in 1998, and that no further information was available at this stage.

"The thoughts of the company and its employees are with those affected by this accident," said Airbus.

In May, a new Airbus military transport plane called the A400M crashed during a test flight in Spain, killing three people.

Airbus said on Friday that it was taking a fresh charge of 290 million euros ($318.59 million) because of development delays following the crash.

(Reporting by Helen Murphy and Victoria Bryan; Writing by Leila Abboud; Editing by Andrew Hay and Digby Lidstone)