Original source: [http://www.1389.com.cn/a/laoquxinwen/meitiguanzhu/2010/0302/1935.html](http://www.1389.com.cn/a/laoquxinwen/meitiguanzhu/2010/0302/1935.html)
Xinhua News Agency, Concepcion, Chile, March 1 (reported by Zhao Kai) - The Chilean Civil Aviation Authority confirmed on March 1 that a small plane carrying rescue personnel to Concepcion, the epicenter of the Chilean earthquake, crashed before arrival, resulting in the death of all six people on board.
The plane took off from Santiago and crashed near Tome, not far from Concepcion. The cause of the accident is still unclear.
Chilean Air Force Commander Patricio Ceballos confirmed at noon on March 1 that the crashed small aircraft was carrying a working group dispatched by the Chilean government, which originally planned to assess the damage to hotels and accommodation facilities in Concepcion.
Concepcion is located in the Bio Bio region of southern Chile, 515 kilometers away from Santiago, the capital of Chile. This second-largest city in Chile is considered one of the places most severely damaged by the strong earthquake in Chile on February 27. On March 1, the Chilean government confirmed that the death toll from the earthquake had risen to 723.