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This photo,
taken with a camera phone on December 25, 2012, shows smoke
rising from the
scene of an Air Bagan passenger plane crash near Heho airport
in Myanmar's
eastern Shan state. The plane, carrying 65 passengers including
foreign
tourists, crash-landed, leaving two people dead and 11 others injured. (AFP)
|
YANGON
(AFP) - A Myanmar passenger jet packed with foreign tourists crash-landed and
burst into flames on Tuesday in a field in eastern Shan state, killing two
people and injuring 11 others, officials said.
Black smoke
was seen billowing from the charred wreckage of the Air Bagan aircraft, which
came down near Heho airport -- the gateway to the popular tourist destination
of Inle Lake.
An
11-year-old child on board was killed when the ageing Fokker-100 jet attempted
to land in heavy fog, breaking its tail and catching fire, according to the
information ministry.
It said 51
foreigners were among the 63 passengers on board the Christmas Day flight from
Yangon via Mandalay. A motorcyclist on the ground was also killed.
Two
Americans, one British woman and one Korean man were among those taken to
hospital in nearby Taunggyi, according to Air Bagan, which described the
incident as an "emergency landing".
The
information ministry said on its website that the plane appeared to have landed
in a field next to the runway due to the bad weather.
"Because
of the emergency landing near the airport, the plane broke up in the
middle," a government official told AFP, adding that passengers were
evacuated.
A local
tour guide waiting at the airport for passengers on the flight said the fire
had "burnt almost the whole plane".
The two
pilots were among those taken to hospital, according to Air Bagan spokesman Ye
Min Oo.
"The
cause of the accident is not clear yet. Only the pilots will know the cause,
but we can't contact them yet as they have been sent to hospital," he
said.
Air Bagan
is one of several domestic carriers seeking to profit from a tourist boom in
Myanmar as it emerges from decades of military rule.
It is owned
by tycoon Tay Za, who is known for his close links to the former junta and has
been blacklisted by the US Treasury which once described him as "a
notorious regime henchman and arms dealer".
The Fokker
100, which is no longer manufactured, was one of two operated by the airline
along with four ATR turboprop aircraft, according to the company's website.
Long
isolated from the world under decades of junta rule, Myanmar has seen an influx
of tourists and business travellers in recent months following a raft of
political reforms.
The surge
in demand for air travel has stretched Myanmar's aviation infrastructure, in
particular in remote airports.
Yangon
International Airport, the country's main terminal, is set to exceed its limit
of 2.7 million passengers this year and the Department of Civil Aviation warned
in July it needs urgent upgrading.
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