Originally published on October 17, 2013
A Lao Airlines plane carrying 49 people from 10 different nations crashed into the Mekong River in southern Laos on Wednesday, killing all on board.
The ATR-72 turboprop plane was traveling from the Laos capital Vientiane was eight kilometers (five miles) short of Pakse, near the borders of Thailand and Cambodia when it crashed at about 4.10pm.
A statement from Lao Airlines said it had yet to determine the cause of the crash, in which a senior aviation official said the tail end of Typhoon Nari may have been a factor.
According to Reuters, "those killed were mostly Lao nationals. But seven French nationals were also killed, the country's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
"South Koreans, Australians, Canadians, Taiwanese, Chinese, Burmese and Vietnamese and five Thais were also among the dead, said Thailand's foreign ministry spokesman, Sek Wannamethee.
"Several officials confirmed none of the passengers or crew survived.
"Lao Airlines is the national carrier of the communist state and has operated since 1976. Its aircraft carried 658,000 passengers last year and it has a fleet of just 14 planes, mostly propeller-driven.
"Southern Laos was affected by Typhoon Nari, which hit the region on Tuesday killing 13 people in the Philippines and five in Vietnam.
"Thai television showed a photograph of the plane partly submerged in shallow water on a stretch of the Mekong, the tail severed, next to a handful of rescuers in small boats.
Local reports quoted witnesses as saying the plane had been blown off course by strong winds and rescue attempts were hampered by a lack of roads near the crash site.
Laos authorities will lead the investigation into the crash.
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