Plane crash in Taiwan kills at least 25 people

A passenger plane has crashed in the Taiwanese capital killing at least 25 people. 18 others remain missing after the plane came down in a river shortly after take-off.

Listen to this report by correspondent Alastair Wanklyn: 

The plane appeared to stall just after take-off from an airport in the centre of Taipei. It began to fall, narrowly missing buildings. It turned on its side, hit a highway overpass and then came to rest in a river.

Some survivors climbed onto the wreckage, and rescuers tried to recover others trapped inside the sunken fuselage.

The chief executive of TransAsia said...

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Taiwanese and Chinese nationals were among the 58 people aboard, including tourists from China and residents of Taiwan's Kinmen Island, where the plane was headed.

There was no word why the French-made ATR plane came down. The flight recorders have been found, and there was speculation the engines failed.

Taiwan has a patchy air safety record. A similar ATR plane crashed last July, killing 48 people; and 15 years ago, a jet crashed on take-off from Taipei when it hit construction equipment on the runway.