At least two people killed when flight carrying 51 foreigners crashes while attempting to land in heavy fog.
The ageing
Fokker-100 jet crashed while attempting to land in heavy fog, breaking its tail
and catching fire [AFP]
A Myanmar passenger jet packed
with foreign tourists crash-landed and burst into flames in a field in eastern
Shan state, killing at least two people and injuring 11 others, officials have
said.
Air Bagan said a Burmese tour
guide on the plane was killed and a motorcyclist on the ground also perished.
Two pilots were among those taken
to hospital, according to Air Bagan spokesman Ye Min Oo.
"The cause of the accident
is not clear yet. Only the pilots will know the cause, but we can't contact
them yet as they have been sent to hospital," he said.
Fifty-one foreigners were among
the 63 passengers, according to the information ministry.
Two Americans, two Britons and
one Korean man were among those taken to the hospital in nearby Taunggyi,
according to Air Bagan, which described the incident as an "emergency
landing".
Two French nationals were also
slightly injured, according to a French embassy official in Yangon.
Ageing
aircraft
Black smoke was seen billowing
from the charred wreckage of the Air Bagan aircraft, which came down near Heho
airport, the gateway to the popular tourist destination of Inle Lake.
The ageing Fokker-100 jet crashed
while attempting to land in heavy fog, breaking its tail and catching fire,
according to the ministry.
"Because of the emergency
landing near the airport, the plane broke up in the middle," a government
official said, adding that passengers were evacuated.
Air Bagan is one of several
domestic carriers seeking to profit from a tourist boom in Myanmar as it
emerges from decades of military rule.
Yangon International Airport, the
country's main terminal, is set to exceed its limit of 2.7 million passengers
this year and the Department of Civil Aviation warned in July it needed urgent
upgrading.
Aljazeera.
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