Lao Airlines Airplane (Photo: Sydney Morning Herald)
Lao Airlines plane crashed into the Mekong River in the southern city of Pakse, near the border with Thailand, just before 16:00 (ICT) on Wednesday.
Lao Airlines Flight QV301 crashed in the Mekong River, killing all 49 passengers and crews.
The state-run Lao Airlines said in a statement that the plane took off from the capital Vientiane and “ran into extreme bad weather conditions” as it prepared to land at Pakse Airport.
AP reported that 17 of the victims were from Lao, seven from France, five were from Australia five from Thailand, three from Korea, two from Vietnam and one person each from Canada, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and the United States.
The airline said it had yet to determine reasons for the crash of the ATR-72 aircraft which was virtually new and had just been delivered in March.
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