A MILITARY aircraft carrying government officials has crashed in a forest in Laos, killing the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and four other people.
About 20 people were believed to be on board the air force plane that left Vientiane, Laos’ capital, early Saturday morning.
The jet was taking the group to an official ceremony in the north-eastern province of Xiangkhoung, about 470 kilometres away, said Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sek Wannamethee.
Tragic ... five peopled died when a Lao air force plane crashed in a forested area of Xiangkhoung province, Laos on Saturday. Picture: AP Photo/Lao National TV Source: AP
The Russian-made Antonov AN-7KTK300 crashed in the Pek district of Xiangkhoung province, where authorities were “helping to rescue the survivors,” according to Lao news agency KPL, which cited an announcement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The report did not say how many people died in the crash or survived.
Among those confirmed killed were Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Douangchay Phichit and his wife, said Nipat Thonglek, the Thai defence ministry’s permanent secretary.
Douangchay was also one of the country’s deputy prime ministers and a high-ranking member of Laos’ Politburo, the main decision-making body for the authoritarian nation’s ruling Communist Party.
Devastation ... this image shows the wreckage of a Lao air force plane which crashed in Laos, killing at least five people on board. Picture: AP Photo/Lao National TV Source: AP
Other fatalities included the governor of Vientiane, Sukhan Mahalad, and two other senior officials, Nipat said.
He said he was given the information by authorities in neighbouring Laos who did not immediately release details of the other passengers.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
It was not immediately clear what the deaths of Douangchay and the other officials will mean to the power structure of the government of Laos, a landlocked and impoverished country that has lagged in Asia’s economic boom and wields little outside influence.
The Lao government is usually very secretive, and most information about the crash, including the initial confirmation that it occurred, came from Thai officials.
Lao National Television showed images of the mangled wreckage in a forested area with smoke rising from its badly charred remains.
The footage showed rescuers pulling away pieces of debris and trying to dig into the fuselage with shovels, as medical crews stood by watching.
Victim ... Laotian Defense Minister Douangchay Phichit was killed in the plane crash. Picture: AP Photo Source: AP
The site of the crash was not far from one of Laos’ major archaeological sites, the Plain of Jars, located in Xiangkhoung province, which borders north-western Vietnam.
In October, a Lao Airlines ATR-72 turboprop crashed during a heavy storm as it approached Pakse Airport in southern Laos, killing all 49 people on board.
Search ... rescue workers scour the crash site in the Xiangkhoung province, Laos. Picture: AP Photo/Lao National TVSource: AP
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