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A Brazilian military plane with 11 people on board disappeared Thursday as it flew over the Amazon, the air force said.
The C-98 Caravan transport plane was flying from Cruzeiro do Sul, in northern Acre state, to Tabatinga in Amazonas when it issued an emergency distress call "58 minutes after takeoff" and then lost radio contact, the Brazilian Air Force said in a statement late Thursday.
"The plane was carrying 11 people -- four crew and seven passengers -- and was supporting a ministry of health vaccination mission," the air force added.
The single-propeller plane took off at 8:30 am (1230 GMT) Thursday and had been due to land in Tabatinga at 10:15 am (1415 GMT), according to the statement.
The mission was being undertaken by an interdisciplinary health team including municipal workers undertaking an immunization campaign in indigenous communities, a spokesman for the National Health Foundation (FUNASA) in Cruzeiro do Sul told AFP.
Search teams were launched aboard seven aircraft, including Blackhawk helicopters and a C-105 Amazonas military transport plane, and would continue overnight, the military said.
