At least nine people are dead after a TransAsia Airways plane crashed into a river near Taipei on Wednesday, according to officials and local media reports. The civilian aeronautic authority said two people had been killed just after the crash while local television later reported an update of nine deaths.
The aeronautic authority also reported 16 people had been rescued while as many as 33 were still unaccounted for.
The plane was carrying more than 50 passengers and crew, including 31 tourists from mainland China, according to government authorities.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear but Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) quoted a government spokesman said the plane crashed after hitting an elevated bridge. The plane had just taken off from Taipei Songshan Aiport and was en route to the Kinmen islands off the coast of south-east China. CNA showed an image of the plane mostly submerged in the Keelung river.
The latest incident is the second crash for the Taiwanese carrier in less than a year. Last July a TransAsia plane crashed during bad weather in Taiwan’s Penghu archipelago, leaving 48 people dead. Read more.
{Andy Heller-Matzav.com Newscenter}
