At least 25 people were killed Wednesday when a passenger plane operated by TransAsia Airways clipped an overpass soon after take-off and plunged into a river in Taiwan, the airline’s second crash in seven months.
Rescue officials said 15 survivors had been pulled out of the wreckage after the turboprop plane crashed with 58 people on board, but 20 were still missing. Many of the passengers were mainland Chinese tourists.
Cold weather, poor visibility and rising water levels were hampering the rescue, officials said, admitting they were now “not optimistic” about finding survivors.
A statement released by the Taiwanese Central Disaster Response Centre said “The plane lost contact at 10.53am on and was found in Keelung river in Taipei. The ministry of transportation contacted the disaster response centre 20 minutes later. Taipei city rescue teams are in operation, having rescued 16 people who were admitted to a nearby hospital, with two announced dead on arrival.”
Several fire engines, ambulances, water craft and almost 170 rescue staff were deployed.
The TransAsia ATR 72-600 turboprop plane was on a domestic flight when it hit a road bridge before ploughing into the river, the reports said. Rescuers were trying to reach the trapped passengers.
On Twitter, photos emerged of the plane as it attempted to make its crash landing.
Television images showed rescuers standing on large sections of broken wreckage trying to pull passengers out of the plane with ropes. Those who were rescued — including two children — were put in dinghies and taken to the shore.
Some were then loaded on stretchers and all 17 rescued have been taken to hospital, reports said.
Officials at Taiwanese emergency services were not immediately available to comment.
The accident happened just before 11:00 am (0300 GMT), a few minutes after the plane took off from Taipei’s Songshan airport en route to the island of Kinmen.
Last July 48 people were killed after another domestic TransAsia flight crashed onto houses during a storm on the Taiwanese island of Penghu.