Cambodian royal armforces commander Ke Kimyan (R) looks at a map to locate the charter plane AN-24 that crashed in the jungle in Kampot province. Heavy rains were hindering thousands of rescuers scouring dense forests in southern Cambodia Tuesday for a tourist plane believed to have crashed the day before (AFP)Jun 26, 2007
DPA
Phnom Penh - Rescuers Tuesday in a remote area of Cambodia said they continued to search for the wreckage of a downed plane in thick jungle without luck as monsoon weather deteriorated and hopes of finding survivors dwindled.
Hundreds of Cambodian military scoured a former Khmer Rouge area of Chhuk district in south-western Kampot province for signs of the Russian-made AN-24 aircraft, which went down Monday enroute between the northern temple town of Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, the nation's premier beach resort.
Prime Minister Hun Sen was on his way to the scene Tuesday, where National Disaster Management Committee deputy president Nhim Vanda and Cambodian military commander-in-chief Ke Kim Yan are personally coordinating a rescue effort.
'I appeal to all local people in the area to assist in the rescue,' Hun Sen said on national radio. He said he would travel by road, as weather conditions made it unsafe to fly his personal helicopter there.
Local media quoted Siem Reap International airport officials on Tuesday as saying 13 South Koreans, three Czechs, a Russian and a number of Cambodians were among the 22 missing passengers on the PMT Air flight.
'We have yet to find any sign of the plane. Weather conditions here are terrible,' a member of the search party said on condition of anonymity.
Helicopter searches were called off Monday night and resumed Tuesday after darkness fell, making it impossible to search thick jungle in pouring rain.
Cambodian civil aviation officials have already speculated that wild monsoon weather may have been to blame for the crash, and that the plane may have slammed into the side of a mountain in heavy fog. Kampot lies about 150 kilometres south-west of Phnom Penh.
PMT Air has a chequered safety record. Two years ago a PMT Air chartered flight skidded off the runway on landing at Rattanakiri provincial airport in the country's far north-east, and last year the small local airline's failure to report a mid-air engine failure during a flight placed it under the scrutiny of Cambodian civil aviation authorities.
Cambodia only recently recommissioned Sihanoukville airport, hoping to draw tourists from the famed Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap to enjoy a seaside holiday at the municipality's pristine beaches, giving a further boost to the country's booming tourism industry.
The crash is the country's worst since a Vietnam Airlines Tupolov went down near Phnom Penh in 1997, killing 64 passengers.
The South Koreans were part of an organized tour group. South Koreans comprise the largest of any nationality of the 1.7 million tourists who visited Cambodia last year, according to Tourism Ministry statistics. South Korea is also a major investor.
Hundreds of Cambodian military scoured a former Khmer Rouge area of Chhuk district in south-western Kampot province for signs of the Russian-made AN-24 aircraft, which went down Monday enroute between the northern temple town of Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, the nation's premier beach resort.
Prime Minister Hun Sen was on his way to the scene Tuesday, where National Disaster Management Committee deputy president Nhim Vanda and Cambodian military commander-in-chief Ke Kim Yan are personally coordinating a rescue effort.
'I appeal to all local people in the area to assist in the rescue,' Hun Sen said on national radio. He said he would travel by road, as weather conditions made it unsafe to fly his personal helicopter there.
Local media quoted Siem Reap International airport officials on Tuesday as saying 13 South Koreans, three Czechs, a Russian and a number of Cambodians were among the 22 missing passengers on the PMT Air flight.
'We have yet to find any sign of the plane. Weather conditions here are terrible,' a member of the search party said on condition of anonymity.
Helicopter searches were called off Monday night and resumed Tuesday after darkness fell, making it impossible to search thick jungle in pouring rain.
Cambodian civil aviation officials have already speculated that wild monsoon weather may have been to blame for the crash, and that the plane may have slammed into the side of a mountain in heavy fog. Kampot lies about 150 kilometres south-west of Phnom Penh.
PMT Air has a chequered safety record. Two years ago a PMT Air chartered flight skidded off the runway on landing at Rattanakiri provincial airport in the country's far north-east, and last year the small local airline's failure to report a mid-air engine failure during a flight placed it under the scrutiny of Cambodian civil aviation authorities.
Cambodia only recently recommissioned Sihanoukville airport, hoping to draw tourists from the famed Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap to enjoy a seaside holiday at the municipality's pristine beaches, giving a further boost to the country's booming tourism industry.
The crash is the country's worst since a Vietnam Airlines Tupolov went down near Phnom Penh in 1997, killing 64 passengers.
The South Koreans were part of an organized tour group. South Koreans comprise the largest of any nationality of the 1.7 million tourists who visited Cambodia last year, according to Tourism Ministry statistics. South Korea is also a major investor.
2 comments:
What do you guy doing there in State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA)???? You guy have no ability to find a missing aircraft for almost 24 hours. You better resign and the government should replace a new professional person and skillful people. SSCA know how to make the corruption only, shit man…..
they are just a bunch of clowns...
I cant believe that till now they still cant find the crashed plane...
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