LA PAZ, Bolivia - A Bolivian air force plane crashed in a southern state Saturday, killing all eight people on board, officials said.

The plane was being used to transport civilians after landslides destroyed stretches of the highway earlier this week. Six civilians were on board, including two children.

The Cessna Centurion plane suffered a "mechanical failure" as it approached the airport in Tarija, about 405 miles south of the capital of La Paz, Col. Tito Gandarillas, a spokesman for the air force, told The Associated Press.

Gandarillas said the two-member crew attempted to make an emergency landing in fields about six miles from Tarija.

The plane had been heading from the city of Bermejo, near the Argentine border, deputy police commander Edgar Iniguez said.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.