|
22 missing on Cambodian charter flight |
Thick jungle and darkness temporarily halted the search for the
wreckage of a plane which crashed in a remote area of Cambodia with
22 people on board, officials and rescue workers said yesterday.
The PMT Air flight took off from the northern city of Siem Reap,
the gateway to the Angkor Wat temples, early Monday but lost
contact at around 11 am as it flew over south-western Kampot
province on its way to the beach resort of Sihanoukville, aviation
officials said.
Local media reports said there were 22 people on the flight list,
including 13 South Koreans, a Russian, at least one Czech and a
number of Cambodians.
However, by late Monday military personnel charged with locating
the wreckage and any possible survivors said no sign of the plane
had yet been uncovered.
"It could have crashed into the side of a hill. It could be
anywhere. This is difficult country," a rescue worker who declined
to be named said by telephone.
"I have heard the reports about survivors and everything else but
at this stage it is all rubbish," he added. "We just don't know
anything. We have not been able to locate it."
Provincial governor Thach Khorn said the search had been
concentrated in one area of his province and there were strong
indications the plane would be found there.
"The plane has gone down in thick jungle about 40 kilometres north
of the provincial capital," Kampot governor Thach Khorn said by
telephone. "We are having serious difficulties reaching the wreck."
Kampot lies about 150 kilometres south-west of the capital, Phnom
Penh, and borders the Russian-made plane's destination of
Sihanoukville, which is the country's prime seaside destination.
The plane crashed in Chhuk district, in a remote former Khmer Rouge
stronghold of the province. The rugged, mountainous terrain of the
area has led many officials to speculate that the chances of
finding survivors is extremely slim.
"We can do no more to get to the site by road tonight," Khorn said.
"However, we are doing everything we can to reach the area as soon
as possible."
Helicopters and soldiers had been dispatched to the area as night
fell but darkness put a halt to the search.
Local Voice of Democracy radio quoted National Committee for
Disaster Management first deputy president Nhim Vanda as saying his
organization had a rescue crew in place and was currently seeking a
way for them to access the site.
PMT Air was the subject of previous safety scrutiny after a near
miss at north-eastern Rattanakiri provincial airport last year
after which the airline was temporarily grounded but allowed to fly
again. The tragedy is expected to focus attention on Cambodia's
domestic air safety regulations and their enforcement.
The Cambodian government has only recently reopened Sihanoukville
airport in a bid to build the country's booming tourist industry
by bringing tourists from the nation's largest travel draw, the
famed Angkor Wat temples near Siem Reap, to the area's pristine
beaches.
South Koreans easily formed the majority of the nearly 2 million
tourists who visited Cambodia last year.
 |
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
