No survivors in Laos plane crash

(Vatican Radio) Forty-nine people are thought dead in Laos after a plane crash landed in bad weather. It is thought that all aboard have perished.

The propeller plane came down in the Mekong River, a few kilometers from the airport in Pakse, southern Laos, where it was scheduled to land.

The plane broke up and sank. Video from the scene shows rescuers in small fishing boats, and several divers preparing to search the sunken wreckage. One report said bodies were being taken to a nearby Buddhist temple.

The plane was flying from the capital of Laos, Vientiane. The government said the passengers were of 11 different nationalities, reflecting the popularity of that air route with foreign tourists. Among the dead was an Australian family of four. Five Thai nationals, and seven French were also aboard.

The aircraft was new. Manufacturer ATR said it delivered the plane in March this year. There is no word why it crashed or whether the pilots were trying to make a controlled landing in the river, but the plane reportedly ran into bad weather, the tail-end of a typhoon that struck nearby Vietnam.

The Laos transport ministry said it was investigating.

Listen to the report by Alastair Wanklyn: