DPA
Phnom Penh - 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 Monday. 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.
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.
1 comment:
to bring tourist and jobs in to Cambodia, is to take akhwack-Hun Sen 's goverment out of Cambodia!
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