At least 9 killed when TransAsia plane crashes into Taiwan river
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TAIPEI (Reuters) - At least nine people were killed and dozens were unaccounted for after a Taiwanese TransAsia Airways plane with 58 passengers and crew on board crash-landed in a Taipei river on Wednesday, officials and domestic media said.
Dramatic pictures taken by a motorist and posted on Twitter showed the planed cartwheeling over a motorway close to the airport soon after the turboprop ATR 72-600 aircraft took off.
Television footage showed passengers wearing life jackets wading and swimming clear of the river.
Emergency rescue officials in inflatable boats crowded around the partially submerged fuselage, lying on its side in the river, trying to help those on board.
The civilian aeronautic authority said soon after the crash that two people had been killed. Taiwanese television later reported the death toll had risen to nine.
The aeronautic authority reported 16 people had been rescued, meaning as many as 33 people were still missing.
Other Taiwanese government authorities said the plane was carrying 58 passengers and crew, including 31 tourists from mainland China.
