(Bangkok) A search is underway in the Thai jungle on Friday to try to find the nine passengers of a tourist plane that crashed on Thursday in the east of the country, but the authorities are not giving much hope.
The turboprop plane crashed in the jungle of Chachoengsao province in the east on Thursday while carrying nine people from Bangkok to Trat, near the Cambodian border.
All occupants likely died in the crash, Thai authorities said.
“The accident happened around 3:10 p.m. We are trying to find the missing people, but we believe they are all dead,” Chachoengsao Governor Chonlatee Yangtrong told reporters at the scene of the accident.
According to local media, the passengers were four Thais and five Chinese, including two children aged 12 and 13.
More than 300 military personnel and volunteers are deployed to search for the missing persons, and authorities have launched an investigation to identify the causes of the accident.
Human remains and parts of the plane have been found, but heavy rains are slowing down the search.
“We have no intention of stopping until we find the missing people, even though some areas are waterlogged,” the governor added.