BANGKOK, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- As many as 88 people
were killed and 42 injured when a budget airliner crashed in attempting to land
at the Phuket International Airport in southern Thailand Sunday afternoon,
reports here said.
The MacDonnel Douglas MD 82 plane, operated by Thai
budget carrier One-Two-Go, had 130 persons aboard, including 123 passengers and
seven crew.
Rescue workers stand near the site of a
plane which crashed at the Phuket airport Sept. 16, 2007. A budget
airliner crashed on the Thai resort island of Phuket on Sunday, killing 88
people as it broke up trying to land in driving rain and burst into
flames, a senior Thai official said. (Xinhua Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
Latest
death toll is put at 88, while 42 were injured and hospitalized, many of them
foreigners, according to Bangkok-based news network The Nation.
Authorities have not confirmed the exact number of
foreign or Thai victims, but list of foreigners retreated at local hospitals
include British, Iranian, Australian, Swedish nationals, as revealed by local
media.
Airport administration officials said the two-engine
airplane, flight number OG 269, took off from the Bangkok's Don Muang airport at
2:30 p.m. (0730 GMT), and arrived at the airport around3:40 p.m. (0840 GMT).
After a failed landing attempt, the aircraft slipped
off the runway, crashed into trees and walls around the airport before it broke
into two sections and burst into flame.
Services at the Phuket International Airport were
suspended while airport workers and emergency personnel cleared the runway of
wreckage in the aftermath of the crash.
Thai rescue workers search for survivors
in the wreckage of a Thai budget carrier MD-82 plane after it crashed
at Phuket airport. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
About
1,000 passengers were affected after four flights from the airport, three
Bangkok-bound and the fourth for Hong Kong, have been canceled.
Before leaving Bangkok for Phuket together with other
senior officials, Thailand's Deputy Minister of Transport Sansern Wongchaum on
Sunday evening said that the Phuket airport is expected to resume operations at
6 a.m. Monday morning (2300 GMT).
Investigation of the crash cause is still underway.
Heavy rain, strong winds and poor visibility at the landing time were suspected
to be part of the reason.
The Phuket province is an island located on the
eastern coast of Indian Ocean in southern Thailand and one of Southeast Asia's
most popular tourist destinations.
The One-Two-Go airline, a domestic subsidiary to
Bangkok-based Orient Thai Airways and Thailand's first low cost airline which
started operating no-frill flights in 2003, runs the Bangkok-Phuket flights from
Don Muang airport, once known as the Bangkok International Airport, six times a
week.
Udom Tantiprasongchai, chairman of Orient Thai
Airlines, told The Nation that he was deeply sorry at the tragedy and promised
that the victims would receive maximum compensation.
A victim of a crashed Thai airliner
receives treatment at a hospital in Phuket September 16, 2007.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
Meanwhile,
Chantra Purnariksha, the head of the Office of the Insurance Commission was
quoted by The Nation as saying that the ill-fated plane was not covered by
domestic insurance.
Chantra said that the General Insurance Association
had confirmed that One-Two-Go airline did not have local insurance for the
ill-fated MD 82 plane, and they will try to find out whether the aircraft, which
was leased by One-Two-Go from a foreign company, was covered by foreign
insurance.
However, airline companies normally buy insurance to
cover both the aircraft in operation and passengers.
Chantra said foreign passengers usually have their
own life and accident insurance, but Thai passengers, who are now being treated
at local hospitals, will be able to get compensation from One-Two-Go, which will
have to pay hospital bills immediately. The airline can claim those costs from
its foreign insurers later.
BANGKOK, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- A passenger plane of the
budget airline One-Two-Go slid out of runway and crashed with trees in
Thailand's southern Phuket airport on Sunday, causing many casualties.
The ill-fated MB 82 aircraft broke into two pieces during the crash while landing at Phuket at about 3:40 p.m. (0840 GMT).
Eye-witnesses said the impact of the crash caused the
plane to break in two and they heard a series of explosions. Full story
BANGKOK, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- With the arrival of a flight boarding Thai prime minister Surayud Chulanont on Monday afternoon, the Phuket International Airport in the southern resort city has resumed operation after it temporarily closed in the aftermath of a disastrous plane crash Sunday afternoon that killed 90 persons. Full story
