14 DAY TRIAL // About 49 people are presumed dead in a plane crash in Laos yesterday. The aircraft plunged into the Mekong River, and recovery operations are ongoing.
The AAP details that eight bodies have been pulled out of the muddy waters of the Mekong, early this morning.
“Lao authorities have told our embassy in Vientiane they do not expect any survivors,” a spokesman for the country's Department of Foreign Affairs has stated.
Officials are yet to identify the remains and pinpoint which country they are from. The Lao Airlines flight tumbled in the river during a storm.
It was flying over the southern city of Pakse, in Champasak province, near the border with Thailand, at the time.
Flight QV301 had left Vientiane on time at 2.45 p.m. and as it was preparing to land, it crashed. 44 passengers were on the French ATR twin-turbo plane, and five additional crew members died in the accident.
The French-Italian manufacturer claims that the plane is brand new. It was delivered in March.
Tourists of 11 nationalities were on board, and the Sydney Morning Herald reported that six of them were Australian.
Seven French nationals, five Thailand citizens and at least two people from China were on board. More than half of the passengers are foreign nationals.
“I saw lifeless bodies lying about and other lifeless bodies being brought in, some connected to IV drips,” one witness in Pakse describes.
One of the bodies was recovered 20 km from the point of impact. Debris was scattered throughout the area, during the tropical storm.
“It’s complete chaos out front, as emergency vehicles grapple with usual traffic on the pot-holed, muddy stretch of road,” the resident said.
“Hundreds of people are loitering about, some curious, others presumably concerned for their loved ones ... it’s absolute horror,” the witness adds.