BOGOTA – Two people were killed and three others injured Wednesday when a small plane crashed near the central Colombian city of Villavicencio, authorities said.

The single-engine plane went down not long after taking off from Villavicencio’s Vanguardia Airport bound for the jungle town of La Macarena.

Within minutes of becoming airborne, pilot Arturo Rodriguez radioed the tower to report having mechanical problems, officials said.

Killed in the crash were Rodriguez and passenger Hector Julio Usme. The other three people aboard, two women and a boy of 6, survived with injuries and were taken to a hospital in Villavicencio.

Usme, an official with the regional environmental authority, was traveling to La Macarena to review a project on disposal of solid waste, according to authorities. EFE