Breaking News: Plane Crash in Laos

Dozens killed in Laos plane crash
At least 44 dead after internal flight from capital
Vientiane crashes into Mekong river , local media
reported .
A Lao Airlines plane carrying 44 people from the
capital Vientiane to the southern town of Pakse
crashed on Wednesday, killing all on board,
among them nationals of 10 countries, a Thai
foreign ministry spokesman said.
Laos officials informed Thailand that the plane
carrying 39 passengers and five crew went down
around 8 km from the airport in Champasak
province in southern Laos, Sek Wannamethee
said.
" I can now confirm , according to our reports , that
all 44 people on board have died , including five
Thai, " he told the AFP news agency .
An official at the South Korean embassy in
Bangkok told Yonhap news agency that three of
their nationals were among the dead , and a
minister told AFP that seven French citizens died
as well.
Australia 's foreign ministry said that six of its
nationals were believed to be killed in the crash ,
while a Thai official said that five of its citizens
died . Those dead also included Canadians ,
Taiwanese , Chinese , Burmese and Vietnamese .
Pakse is a hub for tourists travelling to more
remote areas in southern Laos.
A Lao Airline official in Vientiane confirmed the
crash , but was unable to provide further details
of casualties . She told AFP that the plane had set
off from Vientiene on time at 2: 45pm [ 0745 GMT]
and was supposed to arrive in Paske just over an
hour later .
Bad weather
Thailand 's English- language Bangkok Post
reported that the plane had crashed into the
Mekong River in bad weather at it tried to land at
Pakse airport .
It said the crash had occurred at 4 pm local time
[0900 GMT ].
Vestiges of Typhoon Nari , which hit the region on
Tuesday , might have caused the plane to crash ,
Yakua Lopangka, Director General of the
Department of Civil Aviation , told the Vientiane
Times newspaper .
Pictures on Thai television showed a small plane,
half submerged in the river, with what appeared
to be bodies lying on the banks.
Founded in 1976, the carrier operates a fleet of
ATR- 72 turboprop , Airbus A320 and Chinese -made
MA 60 planes, serving domestic airports and
destinations in China, Thailand , Cambodia and
Vietnam , according to its website.
It has a chequered safety record. Eight people
died when a plane operated by the airline , then
called Lao Aviation , crashed in remote mountains
in the northeast of the country in October 2000