Ten die in Costa Rica plane crash

Hot volcanic gases have forced recovery crews in Costa Rica to suspend their efforts to reach the wreckage of a plane that crashed into a volcano in the north of the country, killing all 10 people on board.

The plane broke up when it hit the side of the volcano

Eight tourists and two crew were killed when the plane, operated by the Costa Rican airline Sansa crashed slammed into the Arenal volcano, 200 metres (650 feet) below the crater.

Arenal erupted last Wednesday, and the area near the plane crash is still littered with lava and volcanic rocks.

The 14-seat Cessna Grand Caravan was flying from the capital San Jose to the Pacific beach resort of Tamarindo on Saturday.

There is so far no indication of why the plane crashed.

But Ozman Fonseca, a Sansa manager, said the plane was at least 20km (12 miles) off course when it crashed.

Lucky escape

The eight passengers were all foreign tourists: five Americans, two Swiss, two Italians and one Canadian.

Rescue attempts have been hampered by volcanic gases

The two crew members were both Costa Rican.

A ninth passenger, a Japanese man, had a lucky escape when he disembarked during a stopover at La Fortuna de San Carlos.

About 200 rescue workers climbed the volcano to locate the wreckage after the plane failed to arrive at its destination.

The plane was reported to be completely destroyed by the impact of the crash.

The wreckage is about three hours walk from the nearest village in normal conditions, but the lava from last week's eruption has made the journey longer.

Arenal eupted last week

Rescuers have been issued with face masks to protect them against volcanic gases.

Initially search efforts were concentrated on the nearby Chato mountain, after an emergency signal from the aircraft appeared to come from that area.

It was only on Sunday that wreckage was spotted on the Arenal volcano.

Arenal has been active since 1968, the eruptions have become popular tourist attractions.

A local tour guide was killed and two US tourists were badly burned while hiking on Arenal, during last week's eruption.