QUITO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - A Venezuelan plane with a handful of people on board has gone missing in Ecuador, officials from both South American countries said on Sunday.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane -- believed to be operated by Venezuelan airline Conviasa and transporting cargo -- late on Saturday, officials said.

Authorities were scouring Ecuador's Andean mountains for the aircraft, they added. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito and Deisy Buitrago in Caracas; Writing by Saul Hudson)

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