Hopes dim: A rescue team is seen working at the site where the aircraft crashed in Chachoengsao province. — AP
Rescuers used hoes to search muddy, forested terrain for debris and the remains of nine people aboard a charter flight that crashed the day before, authorities said, with all the travellers presumed dead.
Five tourists from China and four Thais, including the two pilots, were on the Cessna Caravan C208B aircraft that went down 100km southeast of Bangkok, 11 minutes after losing contact with ground control following take-off.
All aboard the charter plane were presumed dead, said Chonlatee Yongtrong, the governor of the Chachoengsao province, the site of the crash, as authorities scrambled to investigate the cause yesterday.
“We found many human remains,” the governor told reporters late on Thursday, adding that the muddy terrain complicated the task of searchers.
“The plane dropped vertically, so we have to dig 10m into the ground,” he said.
Photographs of the site showed aircraft debris scattered over a forested, boggy area, while rescue workers dug with hoes and used a pump to extract water from some areas, while police forensic units sought to recover and reassemble the bodies.
The plane, operating flight TFT209 headed for the eastern province of Trat, had taken off from the Suvarnabhumi airport in the capital on Thursday afternoon.
Registered to Thai Flying Service Co Ltd, according to the aviation regulator, the craft lost contact with ground control in Bangkok 11 minutes after take-off, provincial officials said. — Reuters
