Wednesday, August 24 2005 10:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Lima: A Peruvian airliner carrying 100 people crashed near a jungle town while attempting an emergency landing in a wind storm killing at least 37 people and injuring 57 more, officials said today (August 24, 2005).

The Boeing 737 went down near the Pucallpa Municipal Airport yesterday (August 23, 2005) after the pilot radioed that he could not land because of strong winds and a torrential downpour, Norma Pasquel, a Pucallpa airport receptionist, told The Associated Press by phone.

The plane circled the airport until attempting to make the emergency landing. Officials and radio reports said the plane crashed near a highway, indicating the pilot was trying to land on the roadway.

Edwin Vasquez, Governor of the Ucayali region, where Pucallpa is located, told Radio programs that at least 57 people, including two children of ages 1 and 4, were being treated in local hospitals after surviving the crash. He said the pilot had been trying to land in a marsh.

Canal N television broadcast photo images of rescue workers carrying survivors on stretchers from a grassy field strewn with debris from TANS Peru flight 204.

Cesar Arroyo, a local prosecutor, told Radio programs from the crash site that around 37 to 40 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage.

"There are still many more bodies to recover but now they have stopped operations because of darkness and the muddy terrain," he said. "Tomorrow at 7 a.m. we will finish the recovery work."

TANS spokesman Jorge Belevan told reporters that 16 foreigners were among the 92 passengers and eight crew members.