49 feared dead in plane crash in Laos

A Laos Airlines flight crashed Wednesday in the
Southeast Asian nation, apparently killing all 49
people aboard, including passengers from 11
countries, the Lao government said.
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport,
which operates the airline as a state enterprise,
said 44 passengers and five crew members were
aboard flight QV301 from the Lao capital,
Vientiane, to Pakse in the country's south.
Earlier reports had said there were 39
passengers on board.
"Upon preparing to land at Pakse Airport the
aircraft ran into extreme bad weather conditions
and was reportedly crashed into the Mekong
River," the ministry said in a statement. It said
there was no word of survivors. The airline flies
an ATR-72 twin-engine turboprop plane on the
467-kilometer (290-mile) route.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sek
Wannamethee said his country's embassy in
Vientiane was informed that the plane crashed
7-8 kilometers (4-5 miles) from the airport at
Pakse.
A passenger manifest faxed by the airline listed
44 people: 17 Lao, seven French, five
Australians, five Thais, three Koreans, two
Vietnamese and one person each from Canada,
China, Malaysia, Taiwan and the United States.
Korean, French and Thai officials confirmed the
totals for their nationalities.
The Lao government said the airline "is taking
all necessary steps to coordinate and dispatch
all rescue units to the accident site in the hope
of finding survivors."
It said the crash is being investigated and the
airline hoped to announce its findings on
Thursday. A Laos Airlines employee contacted by
phone at Vientiane's Wattay airport said a news
conference would be held Thursday.