At least 31 killed in Taipei plane crash

At least 31 people were killed on Wednesday when a TransAsia Airways plane with 58 people aboard hit a bridge shortly after takeoff and crashed into a river in downtown Taipei in Taiwan.

Seventeen people were injured and 12 were still missing, reported Chinese News Agency, quoting Taiwan's Central News Agency.

The island's civil aeronautics administration said the plane took off from Song shan Airport in Taipei for the outlying island of Kinmen at 10:52 am.

Flight controllers lost contact with the turboprop shortly after takeoff, with the plane's fuselage landing in the Keelung River near the airport.

Chinese President Xi Jinping demanded that government departments collect accurate information as soon as possible, assist in rescue efforts and treatment for the injured and provide help and support to the victims' families.

Premier Li Keqiang demanded that government departments strengthen communication with Taiwan to verify casualties as soon as possible and to provide help if needed. He also called for Fujian province and other regions to provide information on the crash and send condolences to family members of mainland passengers on the plane.

The Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee has sent a team to Taiwan.

A Taipei City government spokesman said the ATR 72-600 twin-engine turboprop hit Nanhu Bridge before crashing into the Keelung River just before 11 am.

Video footage showed rescuers in life boats trying to pull survivors from the water and the wreckage. Five crew members and two children were among those on board.

As many as 31 passengers came from the mainland and were on trips organized by two travel agencies in Xiamen, Fujian province.

One of the agencies, Xiamen International Travel Agency, said it is providing updated information on the disaster and said a 24-hour hotline, 0592-7227777, has been set up for passengers' families.

Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that the pilot appeared to try to control the plane a sit descended, but awing grazed an overpass and hit a taxi. The cabdriver was injured.

Lin Chi-ming, director of Taiwan's civil aeronautics administration, said the plane was less than a year old and had completed a safety check on Jan 26.

He said the weather on Wednesday morning was "OK" and the pilot had 4,914 flying hours and the co-pilot 6,922 flying hours.

Lin said the crashed ATR 72-600 is not the same model as the ATR 72-500 that crashed on Penghu, west of Taiwan, last year killing 49 people.

Wednesday's accident is being investigated, and it is too early to say if other TransAsia Airways planes will be ordered to stop flying, Lin said.

Wu Peixin, an aviation expert in Beijing, said he does not think the ATR 72 has serious safety problems.

"I think the accident could have been caused by a flame out in the left engine, which led to the plane stalling," Wu said. "The pilot might have tried to pull it out of the dive, but failed."

Dong Jianhong, a senior designer of turboprops at the Aviation Industry Corp of China, said the ATR 72 enjoys half the global market for turboprops, due to simple design and low operation costs.

Lin Yicheng in Xiamen and Sun Li in Beijing contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at hena@chinadaily.com.cn