Charter plane carrying tourists crashes off Venezuelan coast

A charter plane carrying seven Italians and four Venezuelans has crashed into the Caribbean Sea, but all aboard were rescued by Venezuela's National Guard and a private boat.

Three people suffered minor injuries, said civil defence spokesman Rafael Garcia.

The 10 tourists and their Venezuelan pilot were plucked from the sea by a National Guard ship and the crew of a recreational boat minutes after the crash about 6 miles (10 kilometres) north of Caracas' international airport.

The twin-engine Dornier 28 airplane belonged to Transven Airlines and was headed to Los Roques, an archipelago 90 miles (140 kilometres) north of Caracas, when it went down.

The cause is under investigation.