At least 16 people were killed today when a turboprop passenger plane operated by TransAsia Airways clipped a road bridge and plunged into a river in Taiwan, in the airline's second crash in just seven months.
Dramatic amateur video footage showed the TransAsia ATR 72-600 turboprop plane hit the road bridge as it banked side-long towards the water, leaving a trail of debris including a smashed taxi.
"I saw a taxi, probably just metres ahead of me, being hit by one wing of the plane. The plane was huge and really close to me. I am still trembling," one witness told TVBS news channel.
Rescue officials said that 15 survivors had been pulled out of the wreckage, but that 16 people were believed dead and 27 were still missing. Many of those on board were Chinese tourists.
It was the second serious incident involving a TransAsia Airways plane in a few months after another flight operated by the domestic airline crashed in July during a storm, killing 48 people.
Today's accident happened just before 11:00 am local time, shortly after Flight GE235 left Songshan airport in northern Taipei en route to the island of Kinmen, with 58 people on board including five crew members.
Six airline officials including chief executive Peter Chen bowed in apology at a televised press conference.
"We would like to convey our apologies to the families (of the victims) and we'd also like to voice huge thanks to rescuers who have been racing against time," said Chen.
"Search and rescue at the site is still going on and as of 2:00 pm, 13 people were dead."
Lin Kuan-cheng from the National Fire Agency shortly after said that six people were dead, with 10 showing "no signs of life" -- the term used before death is officially confirmed. Fifteen people had been rescued with 27 still missing.
Those missing are thought to be trapped inside the submerged front section of the plane.
"The focus of our work is to try to use cranes to lift the front part of the wreckage, which is submerged under the water and is where most of the other passengers are feared trapped," a senior rescue official told reporters at the scene.
He later said that the black boxes from the plane had been recovered - there is no official indication yet of what caused the crash.
As time ticked away for those inside the fuselage, rescue boats surrounded the wreckage which remains in the middle of the river, with 400 soldiers drafted in to help.
Emergency crews standing on sections of the broken fuselage tried to pull passengers out of the plane with ropes.
Those who were rescued were put in dinghies and taken to the shore.
