Private plane with 5 Germans on board missing off Costa Rican coast

A plane with five German passengers has disappeared off the coast of Costa Rica.

Communication with the plane broke down around 6 pm on Friday evening (0000 GMT Satruday), Costa Rica's Ministry of Public Security announced on Facebook.

The plane was on its way from Mexico to Puerto Limón on the Caribbean coast of the Central American country. Investigations have been initiated together with neighbouring states, it said.

"The plane disappeared from radar about 25 miles [40 kilometres] from Limón airport. The plane was supposed to land at 6:58 pm, we lost it at an altitude of 2,000 feet [60 metres]," the director of the Civil Aviation Authority, Fernando Naranjo, told the Teletica television channel.

Search efforts were initially suspended during the night due to unfavourable weather conditions. On Saturday, the coastguard and the air surveillance service were to resume the search. A command centre was set up at Puerto Limón airport to coordinate the search efforts.

"There were five German passengers on the plane," Public Security Minister Jorge Torres said in a video released by Teletica. He said contact with the plane had been lost near the village of Barra del Parismina.

"We are aware of the case," said the Foreign Office in Berlin. "Our embassy in San José is in contact with the local authorities to clarify the facts."

According to media reports, the missing aircraft was a Piaggio P180 Avanti business jet. It had taken off in the afternoon from Palenque in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The Mayan ruined city there is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most important archaeological sites in Mexico.