SEOUL, June 26 (Yonhap) -- Cambodian rescuers Tuesday resumed their search for a passenger plane believed to have crashed in southern Cambodia with 22 people aboard, including 13 South Koreans, the South Korean embassy in Phnom Penh said.
The Russian-made AN-24 disappeared over a jungle in Kamport Province Monday morning en route to the southern coastal resort of Sihanoukiville from Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor Wat temple which recently emerged as one of the hottest tourist destinations for South Koreans, according to an embassy spokesman.
Equipped with three helicopters and five ambulances, the rescue team conducted search and rescue operations until late into the night but found no survivors.
Operations resumed early Tuesday, but did not go smoothly due to slippery conditions after heavy rains, the spokesman said.
"Some foreign wire services reported that the wreckage of the plane and four bodies have been found, but the reports have not yet been officially confirmed," South Korea's Ambassador to Cambodia Shin Hyun-suk was quoted as saying by Oh Nak-young, a councilor at the embassy.
Shin is one of the three South Korean diplomats sent to the suspected crash area Monday.
"The rescue team is doing its job and looking at all possibilities, including the possibility that the plane made an emergency landing and that there could be survivors as local villagers said there was no explosion or fire at the crash," Shin said.
Japan's Kyodo News reported Gov. Thach Khorn of Kampot province as saying that helicopters located the crash site in Sre Angkrang, a village of Kampot province's Chhouk District, about 135 kilometers southwest of the Cambodian capital.
It also said local villagers who heard a loud explosion and rushed to the crash site found no survivors.
News reports said the plane belongs to a small Phnom Penh-based Cambodian airliner, PMT Air, which has recorded at least three major accidents or in-flight emergencies over the past two years. Among the 22 people aboard the plane were three Czech tourists, they said.
The South Korean embassy said it is working round the clock to help with rescue operations and plans to send a 17-member volunteer rescue team composed of South Korean residents of Cambodia.
Shin and other Korean diplomats held an overnight meeting with Cambodian government officials to discuss the rescue operations.
Shin had a telephone conversation with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen Monday night to express thanks for his country's speedy cooperation over the accident and asked for his best efforts to rescue any possible survivors.
The Ministry of Construction and Transportation said it would send two government inspectors to the suspected crash site.
Sixteen family members of the missing South Koreans are scheduled to leave for Cambodia Tuesday afternoon to visit the scene of the accident.
The Russian-made AN-24 disappeared over a jungle in Kamport Province Monday morning en route to the southern coastal resort of Sihanoukiville from Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor Wat temple which recently emerged as one of the hottest tourist destinations for South Koreans, according to an embassy spokesman.
Equipped with three helicopters and five ambulances, the rescue team conducted search and rescue operations until late into the night but found no survivors.
Operations resumed early Tuesday, but did not go smoothly due to slippery conditions after heavy rains, the spokesman said.
"Some foreign wire services reported that the wreckage of the plane and four bodies have been found, but the reports have not yet been officially confirmed," South Korea's Ambassador to Cambodia Shin Hyun-suk was quoted as saying by Oh Nak-young, a councilor at the embassy.
Shin is one of the three South Korean diplomats sent to the suspected crash area Monday.
"The rescue team is doing its job and looking at all possibilities, including the possibility that the plane made an emergency landing and that there could be survivors as local villagers said there was no explosion or fire at the crash," Shin said.
Japan's Kyodo News reported Gov. Thach Khorn of Kampot province as saying that helicopters located the crash site in Sre Angkrang, a village of Kampot province's Chhouk District, about 135 kilometers southwest of the Cambodian capital.
It also said local villagers who heard a loud explosion and rushed to the crash site found no survivors.
News reports said the plane belongs to a small Phnom Penh-based Cambodian airliner, PMT Air, which has recorded at least three major accidents or in-flight emergencies over the past two years. Among the 22 people aboard the plane were three Czech tourists, they said.
The South Korean embassy said it is working round the clock to help with rescue operations and plans to send a 17-member volunteer rescue team composed of South Korean residents of Cambodia.
Shin and other Korean diplomats held an overnight meeting with Cambodian government officials to discuss the rescue operations.
Shin had a telephone conversation with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen Monday night to express thanks for his country's speedy cooperation over the accident and asked for his best efforts to rescue any possible survivors.
The Ministry of Construction and Transportation said it would send two government inspectors to the suspected crash site.
Sixteen family members of the missing South Koreans are scheduled to leave for Cambodia Tuesday afternoon to visit the scene of the accident.
1 comment:
Dear Excellencies, Samdachs,
If you are willing to serach the crashed Plane to rescue those victims if any still survived...in case of difficulty to search via land or helicopter due
I think you may order any Satelite Imagery ( with High Resolution)Radar Sat or SPOT ENVISAT or others from any sateliet stations in VN or Thailand Singapore etc.. focussing on the supected site e.g the whole Kampot Province or smaller area to find out using some technology ..you may ask any NGO or Institions releted to those Technics we have in Cambodia..
If you want to look for BUT I think some elite are not interested in ..just...
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