Victims of plane crash in Myanmar found in sea

HUNDREDS of people gathered on a beach in southern Myanmar yesterday desperately waiting for news of their loved ones as the first bodies arrived from the wreck of a military plane that crashed with more than 120 people on board.

Navy ships and air force planes have been scouring the waves since Wednesday afternoon, when the aircraft disappeared en route from the southern city of Myeik to the commercial hub of Yangon.

By mid-afternoon the commander-in-chief’s office said 29 corpses – 20 women, one man and eight children – had been retrieved from the sea after a navy vessel discovered wreckage from the plane off the coastline near Dawei town.

Hundreds of locals, relatives and NGO workers clasping umbrellas watched as a fishing boat laden with the dead pulled up to San Hlan beach, where they were unloaded by NGO workers and uniformed soliders wearing masks and gloves. An AFP reporter counted 29 corpses of different sizes, wrapped in black and white plastic bags, being brought onshore from the boat.

A military officer said strong currents has made it hard for boats to reach the shore, so many of the bodies may have to be airlifted to land.

The Chinese-made ShaanxiY8 plane was carrying a total of 122 people when it disappeared on Wednesday afternoon during a routine flight.

Over half of the passengers were from military families, including 15 children, along with 35 soldiers and 14 crew members, the army chief’s office said.

It is monsoon season in Myanmar, but there were no major storms reported along the aircraft’s flight path on Wednesday afternoon.

The military said the plane was flying at over 18,000 feet (5,486 metres) when it lost contact with air traffic control at 1:35 pm on Wednesday, about half an hour after takeoff.

Gerry Soejatman, an independent aviation expert based in Jakarta, said the information indicated something went wrong “not long after or just before reaching cruising altitude”.

The military named the captain as “seasoned” pilot Lieutenant Colonel Nyein Chan, who it said had more than 3,000 hours of flying experience.

The military said the plane that crashed was delivered in March 2016 and had a total of 809 flying hours.

The debris – including two tyres presumed to be from the plane were brought to shore before search efforts wrapped for the day – was found in the Andaman Sea.