Caracas, Aug 16 (Prensa Latina) A commercial airliner with 152 people on board from Colombia´s West Caribbean Airways crashed Tuesday in a remote north-western region of Venezuela and it is unlikely anyone has survived.


The MD-80 airplane was flying from Panama to the island of Martinique when the pilot reported a failure in one of the engines before the aircraft crashed at about 04:00 local time in Sierra de Perija



Venezuelan Interior Minister Jesse Chacon said the pilot had asked for authorization to enter Venezuelan air space and land at Maracaibo airport because of problems with one of the engines.



The aviator then reported that the second engine was also failing and the aircraft began to lose altitude at about 7,000 feet (2,100 metres) a minute, Chacon said.



Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane soon after the crew reported engine problems.



Aviation official Francisco Paz said rescue workers are on their way to the area of the crash in Zulia state.



"It is unlikely that there are any survivors, but we cannot be sure until we reach the scene of the crash," said the official.



West Caribbean Airways was set up in 2000 to provide low-cost flights within Colombia and to the Caribbean region, according to the company website.