Mexico City, 16 December (H.S.): A private Cessna Citation III jet en route from Acapulco plummeted into an industrial zone in San Mateo Atenco on Monday, claiming at least seven lives after a botched emergency landing attempt just five kilometres from Toluca International Airport, approximately 50 kilometres west of the capital.

Mexico State Civil Protection Coordinator Adrián Hernández confirmed the aircraft—tail number XA-PRO, operated by Servicios Aéreos Estrella, ferrying eight passengers and two crew—veered off a makeshift soccer field touchdown, slamming into a business's metal roof and erupting in inferno that scorched the vicinity.

Rescue crews laboured amid flames to retrieve remains, with one passenger possibly unaccounted for hours post-impact; San Mateo Atenco Mayor Ana Muñiz reported 130 evacuations as blazes menaced nearby structures, prompting swift federal aviation probes into mechanical failure or pilot distress.

This tragedy underscores Mexico's perilous skies, where small craft mishaps persist despite rigorous oversight; preliminary footage captures the doomed go-around's harrowing finale, as investigators comb wreckage for black box revelations.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar