Troops have found the plane's wreckage

Colombian officials are refusing to comment on the fate of the three people aboard the Cessna 208, the wreckage of which was located by government troops.

The plane had been searching for three Americans abducted by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on 13 February after the aircraft carrying them crash-landed in the Colombian jungle.

The wreckage of the plane which crashed on Tuesday was found in the southern province of Caqueta, where the previous plane was also lost.

One Colombian official said that the remains of the plane, found near the Larandia military base, had been blackened by fire.

Huge search

Almost 5,000 Colombian military personnel have been trying to find the abducted Americans, who were taken after a Colombian colleague and a fourth American were reportedly executed on the spot.

FARC has accused the men of being CIA agents but Washington says they were contractors for the Defence Department searching for illegal coca crops.

It is the first time that US Government employees have been captured during Colombia's four decades of civil war.

The Colombian Government has offered a $345,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of the missing men, who have not been identified.