9:03 pm

Insurers face massive payout

Insurance companies will have to pay out at least NT$700 million (130 million yuan) in compensation, Taiwan's insurance regulator estimated after the TransAsia plane crash that killed at least 23 people on Wednesday.

The airline can claim US$20 million (12.5 million yuan) in total from eight insurers for fuselage damage to the ill-fated ATR 72-600 aircraft carrying 58 passengers and crew.

Among that number were 31 mainland tourists who had travel insurance, huanqiu.com cited Taiwan media as saying.

Some insurers have already initiated compensation procedures.

8:33 pm

Mainland fatalities identified

The two men are Wang Qinghuo and Wang Zhangsheng, according to Taiwan civil aviation authorities.

7:00 pm

Premier Li urges rapid response

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called for closer Cross-Straits cooperation and assistance to families of passengers after a TransAsia plane carrying 58 people, including 31 tourists from the mainland, crashed in Taiwan on Wednesday.

The Kinmen-bound plane cartwheeled into the Keelung River shortly after taking off from Taipei's Sungshan Airport, leaving at least 23 dead and a dozen others, including five crew members, missing.

Two passengers from Xiamen, East China's Fujian province were reportedly among the dead, according to Straits News, a Fujian-based newspaper.

Li also urged that verification of the status of people on board be determined as soon as possible and psychological counseling provided to families of passengers.