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Human remains have been recovered in the search for a Chilean military plane that crashed into the ocean on its way to Antarctica earlier this week.
Key points:
- The plane crashed on its way to Chile's Antarctic territory
- Extreme weather made it too dangerous to launch a search when the plane first disappeared
- The head of Chile's air force says there are no survivors
The discovery prompted the head of Chile's air force, General Arturo Merino, to declare none of the 38 people on board had survived.
"Remains of human beings that are most likely the passengers have been found among several pieces of the plane," he said.
"I feel immense pain for this loss of lives."
Among other recovered items, searchers have found a landing wheel, sponge-like material from the fuel tanks and part of the plane's inside wall.
Personal items included a backpack and a shoe, officials said.
The Hercules C130 aircraft, a military transport plane, took off on Wednesday at 4:55pm local time from the southern city of Punta Arenas in Chilean Patagonia.
It was heading to a base in Antarctica with 21 passengers and 17 crew members, but operators lost contact with the plane shortly after 6:00pm.
"The condition of the remains we discovered make it practically impossible that anyone could have survived the airplane accident," General Merino said.
Extreme weather conditions including low clouds, strong winds and massive, rolling ocean swells initially complicated search efforts following the plane's disappearance.
The first pieces of debris from the plane were discovered by Chilean air force officials late on Wednesday.
A Brazilian ship sailing in the region also found pieces of the plane.
Plane lost in ocean wilderness
A rescue team initially searched the area where communications with the plane had been lost, in the hope of finding possible survivors.
General Merino said now that authorities had discovered remains, they would be analysed to confirm they were those of the plane's passengers or crew.
Chile's Legal Medical Service also sent a team to Punta Arenas take the blood of family members, many of whom have travelled to an airbase, to assist with identification.
The plane crashed over the Drake Sea, a vast untouched ocean wilderness off the southernmost edge of the South American continent.
The plane had been travelling to perform logistical support tasks for the maintenance of Chilean facilities at an Antarctic base, the air force said.
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Topics: air-transport, air-and-space, disasters-and-accidents, death, chile, antarctica