WA: WA woman confirmed dead in Peru plane crash=2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-26-2005
WA: WA woman confirmed dead in Peru plane crash=2

EDS: Correcting spelling of Spanish woman's name from earlier story.



"Consular officials have been in contact with the woman's family and family members
are travelling to Lima," the DFAT spokeswoman said.

DFAT would not confirm the dead woman was Perth woman Kirralee Thomas, but Ms Thomas'
father Stephen Thomas earlier expressed fears she was on board the plane when it crashed
on Wednesday during a freak hail storm.

Mr Thomas, of the southern Perth suburb of Leeming, told The West Australian newspaper
his daughter's friend, named as Eva Maria Gonzalo, 27, of Spain, had died in the crash.

Other family members today declined to comment further.

"At this stage there is no comment, I'm sorry," a male relative said when contacted
at the family home this morning.

He asked that the family's wishes be respected.

The DFAT spokeswoman said:"The consul from the Australian Embassy in Santiago, Chile,
has travelled to Lima and Pucallpa and together with the Australian consul general in
Lima will provide consular assistance to the woman's family on their arrival in Peru."

She said she understood there were no other Australians on board the plane, and Australia
would play no role in the investigation into the cause of the crash.

Officials in Peru have said it is too early to say why the plane came down, but suggested
poor weather or pilot error may have been to blame.

The TANS Peru Boeing 737-200 was reduced to chunks of charred rubble, yet more than
half the 98 passengers and crew miraculously survived.

AAP hn/cdh/sp

KEYWORD: PERU PLANE WA 2 LEAD PERTH (REOPENS)

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