Two Chinese confirmed dead in Lao Airlines crash

Photos taken by local residents show the rubble after a Lao Airlines plane flying in stormy weather crashed into the Mekong river in southern Laos, Oct 16, 2013. All 44 people on board, including two Chinese, were killed. [Photo/Icpress.cn]

VIENTIANE - The Chinese embassy has confirmed that two Chinese citizens were killed when Lao Airlines flight QV301 crashed Wednesday afternoon in Champassak province, Laos.

44 killed in Laos plane crash

A Lao Airlines plane flying in stormy weather crashed into the Mekong river in southern Laos on Wednesday, killing all 44 people on board, among them nationals of 10 countries.

The virtually new ATR-72 turboprop plane flying from the capital Vientiane crashed at about 4.10 pm (0910 GMT) just eight kilometers (five miles) short of its destination Pakse, which is near the borders of both Thailand and Cambodia.

The airline said in a statement it had yet to determine the cause of the crash, in which a senior aviation official said the tail end of Typhoon Nari may have been a factor.

Those killed were mostly Lao nationals. But seven French nationals were also killed, the country's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. [Full story]