U.S. MISSIONARIES' PLANE IS SHOT DOWN BY MISTAKE IN PERU

Peru - A Peruvian air force jet shot down a plane carrying American
missionaries in Peru's Amazon jungle region, apparently believing it was
trafficking in narcotics, a U.S. Embassy spokesman said Friday.

"The Peruvian pilot mistook it for an airplane transporting contraband
drugs," said the spokesman, Benjamin Ziff.

The Rev. E.C. Haskell, spokesman for the Association of Baptists for World
Evangelism, said the group's plane was attacked as it flew from the
Peruvian border to the city of Iquitos.

He said missionary Veronica "Roni" Bowers, 35, of Muskegon, Mich., and her
6-month-old daughter, Charity, were killed. Pilot Kevin Donaldson of
Morgantown, Pa., was wounded, Haskell said.

Donaldson was able to make an emergency landing in the Amazon River,
Haskell said. Also on board and unhurt were Bowers' husband, Jim Bowers,
37, and their 8-year-old son Cory, Haskell said from the group's office in
Harrisburg, Pa.