Asia

Asia

Debris from Myanmar plane with over 100 on board found in sea - UPDATED

Debris from Myanmar plane with over 100 on board found in sea - <span style="color: red;">UPDATED

07 June 2017 15:15 (UTC +04:00)

Debris from a Myanmar military plane which went missing on Wednesday has been found in the Andaman Sea.

The plane was carrying 116 people and it went missing between the southern city of Myeik and Yangon, according to an AFP report.

“Communication was lost suddenly at about 1:35 PM (07:05 GMT) when it reached about 20 miles west of Dawei town,” the commander-in-chief’s office said in a statement, adding search and rescue was ongoing. An airport source, who asked not to be named, told AFP the plane was carrying 105 passengers and 11 crew.

“Now they have found pieces of the damaged plane in the sea 136 miles (218 km) away from Dawei city,” said Naing Lin Zaw, a tourism official in Myeik city, adding that the navy was still searching the sea.

An air force source requesting anonymity confirmed a navy search and rescue ship had found pieces of the plane.

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15:26

A Myanmar military plane carrying more than 100 people has gone missing between Yangon and the southern city of Myeik, officials said, APA reported citing Al Jazeera.

The aircraft disappeared off the radars on Wednesday, the army chief's office said in a statement, adding that search and rescue was ongoing.

"Communication was lost suddenly at about 1:35pm (07:05 GMT) when it reached about 20 miles west of Dawei town," the statement said.

An airport source, who asked not to be named, told the AFP news agency that the plane was carrying 105 passengers and 11 crew.