On Thursday (August 22), a small passenger plane crashed shortly after taking off from an airport in the capital city of Bangkok, as announced by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand. All 9 people on board perished in the crash, including 5 individuals from Hong Kong.
According to reports from Thai media cited by the Associated Press, at the crash site in the mangrove swamp of Bang Phli District, around 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the airport, rescue personnel found no survivors, with a total of 7 passengers and 2 pilots on board.
A spokesperson for Chachoengsao Province stated that after about an hour of search, rescue workers discovered severely fragmented remains in the swampy area.
The identities of the individuals onboard have not been disclosed. However, the spokesperson indicated that among them were 5 individuals from Hong Kong, 2 Thai female cabin crew members, as well as a Thai pilot and co-pilot.
The cause of the crash remains unclear.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand mentioned that the turboprop aircraft was a “Cessna Caravan” C208B operated by a Thai aviation service company, taking off from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok at 2:46 PM local time on Thursday. 11 minutes later, communication between air traffic control and the aircraft was lost, and the aircraft disappeared from radar, located about 35 kilometers (22 miles) southeast of the airport.
At that time, the plane was en route to Trat Province, a coastal province about 275 kilometers (171 miles) southeast of Bangkok.
Footage from the scene shows the plane wreckage scattered in pieces, sinking into a pond among the trees, with a rescue worker standing in chest-deep muddy water.
The spokesperson for Chachoengsao Province mentioned that further search and rescue efforts have been progressing slowly due to darkness falling and the crash site being flooded by high tide.