BEIJING, Feb. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Search and rescue teams are still trying to locate the passengers from the crashed plane who are missing, but hopes of finding survivors are dimming.
On going efforts to search the crash site for those missing. But less urgency than Wednesday, they're not expecting to find anymore survivors. Heavy cranes lifting bits of the plane on to dry ground to be searched and moved away for analysis. And divers scouring the depths of the Jilung river for those that remain unaccounted for, but the conditions have not been kind.
"Because the fuselage is broken up in pieces, this makes the rescue and search operation quite difficult. Also the rescue team faces the difficulty of the strong current in the river. The water is quite murky and there is no visibility. So it's a very difficult mission," says T. Cheng Ying-chin, rescue team driver.
On the other side of the Taiwan Strait, support teams in Xiamen preparing to depart for Taipei.
A large number of the passengers on the TransAsia flight were heading back to their homes on the Mainland. And a team from the Xiamen government will join the crash investigators in the next few days.
TransAsia itself has denied speculation that they were aware of any problems with the plane's engines before takeoff.
"Media reports say our plane took off without a check, after the engine had a problem. We make a solemen declaration that this is not true. I have the certificates which approved the pilot flying that day. We will send the original copies of these certificate to the aviation bureau for their investigation," says Wu Hu-sheng, TransAsia Airways General Manager," Wu says.
Taiwan's aviation authority has grounded all of the ATR twin propeller planes for extra safety checks. And TransAsia said it was preparing to make payments to the relatives of the victims.
"TransAsia today will identify the relatives of the victims and will be paying out compensation of 1.2 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 38,000 US dollars) to the families for funeral expenses," says Peter Chen, TransAsia Airways Chief Executive.
Despite the best efforts of the search and rescue teams as the day went on, the number of missing remained 12.
Skilled divers along the river, trying to find the final victims of this TransAsia plane that came down in central Taipei about 24 hours ago. We can hear and see Buddhist monks lead in the first families of the braved at the site, so that they can pay respect to those who died here.
A simple ceremony in the shadow of the wreckage, and more will come to pay their respects and grieve for their loss.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
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