Crashed plane retrieved, 32 dead

(chinadaily.com.cn/Xinhua) Updated: 2015-02-05 08:18

Rescuers carry the TransAsia Airways plane's Flight Data Recorder. [Photo/weibo.com/xmrb]

The Taiwan Aviation Safety Council said on Thursday that it has invited accident investigators from the Chinese mainland to take part in the accident investigation.

A cross-Straits emergency response mechanism has been launched to deal with the accident.

The first group of eight family members of mainland passengers and four travel agency staff arrived in Taipei on Thursday morning. Another 16 family members, accompanied by eight travel agency staff will also arrive Thursday.

A seven-person working group including officials of the Xiamen tourism bureau came to Taipei on Wednesday evening and started to work.

As of 1:45 pm on Thursday, the crash had left 32 people dead, 15 injured and 11 missing. Three other mainland passengers were injured.

The ATR-72 aircraft plunged into the Keelung River at 10:55 am on Wednesday after its wing clipped a taxi on an elevated freeway, 10 minutes after takeoff. The taxi was carrying two passengers: a man and a woman.

Plane clipped a taxi as it descended into river. [Photo/TVBS]

Flight GE235 was heading for Kinmen from Taipei with 53 passengers on board, including 31 from the Chinese mainland, and five crew. Three of the mainland passengers are known to be children.

The bodies of the captain and two co-pilots have been found, and the plane's two black boxes have been recovered.

Rescue work has been hampered by the murkiness of the Keelung River. Several segments of the plane, including the cockpit, have been raised out of the water.