Body count hits 31 as search continues
YANGON/SANLAN: The tally of retrieved bodies rose to 31 yesterday as Myanmar’s hunt for a military transport plane that went missing over the Andaman Sea on Wednesday with 122 people on board stretched into a third day.
Eight navy ships and sonar systems, along with 20 civilian boats, had joined the search in stormy weather off the southern coast, the military said.
‘‘We have not received any information about survivors,’’ said Phyu Phyu Win, a regional social welfare and relief official.
‘‘Hopefully, someone would survive.’’
Scores of soldiers gathered on standby to assist if more bodies were carried ashore in the fishing village of Sanlan, about 600km from Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.
The bodies of twentythree adults and eight children have been pulled from the Andaman Sea near the coastal town of Launglon since rescue efforts began on Wednesday, the military said on its official Facebook page.
An aircraft wheel, two life jackets and some bags with clothes — believed to be from the missing plane — were found on Thursday. Some patches of oil were also spotted, the military said.
The cause of the incident is yet to be confirmed. Stateowned China National AeroTechnology Import & Export Corporation, maker of the plane, said it would assist Myanmar authorities fully in investigating the crash.
Survivors were unlikely to be found more than 24 hours after the plane lost contact, despite warm sea temperatures, experts have said. — Reuters