BANGKOK, Thailand - A passenger plane filled with foreign tourists crashed Sunday as it tried to land in heavy rain on the island of Phuket, splitting in two as it was engulfed in flames, officials said. At least 66 people were killed.
The budget One-Two-Go Airlines was carrying 123 passengers and five crew members on a domestic flight from the Thai capital of Bangkok to Phuket, one of the country’s major tourist destinations, according to the Thai television station TITV.
Survivors described their escape from the airplane’s windows as fires and smoke consumed the plane.
“I saw passengers engulfed in fire as I stepped over them on way out of the plane,” Parinwit Chusaeng, a survivor who suffered minor burns, told the Nation television channel. “I was afraid that the airplane was going to explode so I ran away.”
Phuket’s Deputy Governor Worapot Ratthaseema told The Associated Press that at least 66 bodies were laid out in the airport building.
“At least 66 people have been confirmed and 42 have been hospitalized,” Worapot said, adding the remaining passengers are missing.
Worapot could not say how many of the dead were foreigners but he said among the dead were Irish, Israeli, Australian and British passengers. He said as many as 27 of the injured were foreigners.
An Irish survivor, identified as Sean, told of being badly burned on his arms, legs and back as he escaped the flames. Speaking to TITV from a local hospital, he said he knew something was wrong even before the flight landed.
“You could tell when it was landing it was in trouble,” he said. “It was making a noise, this bang.”
Chaisak Angsuwan, director general of the Air Transport Authority of Thailand, said weather played a part in the crash.
