At least 48 people were killed and 10
injured when a twin-engine turboprop plane crashed while attempting to
land in Penghu Islands, according to Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics
Administration.
TransAsia Airways
Flight GE 222 was preparing to land at Magong Airport in heavy rain on
Wednesday and had asked for its second go-around before the accident
occurred, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency.
Visibility
at the airport during the plane's attempted landing was about 1,600
meters (1 mile) and considered acceptable for landing, Jean Shen,
Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration director told reporters.
Transportation
officials arrived Thursday morning to investigate the disaster and
assist in relief work. The cause of the crash remains unclear and
authorities have identified 14 of the 48 killed, according to CNA.
The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been sent to Taipei, the agency reported.
The plane, an ATR 72-500, carried 54 passengers and four crew members.
The
domestic flight, which took off from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, had been
delayed because of conditions related to a typhoon, the airline said.
Typhoon Matmo had struck Taiwan on Wednesday.
Typhoon Matmo threatens mudslides in Taiwan
"Yesterday
was an extremely painful day for Taiwan," its President Ma Ying-jeou
posted on his official Facebook page, adding that the typhoon had
injured 17 people.
"After hearing of
the tragedy, and watching relatives break down on TV news, I believe
many Taiwanese were the same as me, passing a heartbroken and sleepless
night."
Grief in Taiwan
Family members crumpled to the ground, overtaken with grief of losing of loved ones, in footage shown on CNN's affiliate, ETTV.
TransAsia
Airways sent families of the victims on a chartered flight to Penghu
Islands, the site of the crash, which is located off the west coast of
the main Taiwanese island.
The pilots
of Flight GE 222 were identified as Lee Yi-liang, who had 22 years of
flight experience, and co-pilot Chiang Kuna-hsing who had two-and-a-half
years of experience, according to CNA.
Friends of one of the crew members posted on his Facebook page, "Come back" and "Rest in peace."
Also
aboard the plane was Yen Ken-chuang, an 82-year-old Taiwanese wood
architect, according to the Ministry of Culture's Bureau of Cultural
Heritage, CNA reported.
It
also reported that a local firefighter, Lee Ming-tsun, 47, was pulled
from the wreckage by his colleagues. Lee was a leader of one of the
divisions, and was returning from his holiday.
French passengers identified as Jeromine Deramond and Penelope Luternauer died in the plane crash, according to CNA. They were on a one-month exchange program in the field of medicine in Taiwan.
"TransAsia
Airways is exhausting all means to assist passengers, victims and
families" and working with investigators, an airline statement read.
The
airline's president, Chooi Yee-choong appeared briefly at a news
conference and bowed in front of news cameras. He choked up as he
expressed his sorrow to passengers' families and the public.
"I sincerely apologize," he said.
Crash site
Footage
on scene showed the plane had crashed in a residential area and broken
into pieces. Witnesses told CNN affiliate ETTV that they saw homes on
fire after the plane crashed around 7 p.m. The fallen plane destroyed or
damaged 11 houses, EETV reported.
There
were no casualties on the ground, said Taiwan's Transportation Minister
Yeh Kuang-shih. Five residents were injured, but they were discharged
from local hospitals.
The ATR 72-500
plane was delivered to Taiwan's TransAsia Airways from the production
line in 2000, according to the aircraft maker.
Xi Jinping, China's president expressed his condolences saying he was "deeply grieved" by the accident.
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