Three Americans died Monday morning when the plane they were traveling in crashed in the department of Petén, north of the Guatemalan capital, police said.
The National Civil Police identified the victims as James DeHart, who was piloting the aircraft; Bonnie DeHart, and Helen Shaw Coon. The victims were recognized by James Abraham Dinsmore, owner of the farm from where the aircraft took off and who reported the origin of the people, authorities said.
Police explained that Dinsmore said the victims were missionaries from a church that helps communities with scholarships.
Luis Burgos, the governor of Petén, explained that the plane had taken off from that department headed for the Guatemalan capital when the accident occurred. Photographs released by the governor showed a small white Cessna plane that caught fire when it hit the ground in a rural area.
The official website of the Christian group Commission for All Nations has registered Jim, short for James, and Bonnie DeHart as their workers in Petén, where the accident occurred, since 2009. The group says that the DeHarts had “a Bible school especially for Mayan people” focused on helping local poor people, a sparsely populated area with the lowest economic position in the country.
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