TAIPEI, Taiwan, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- At least 23 people are confirmed dead and up to two dozen are missing after a TransAsia aircraft clipped its wing on a bridge shortly after take off and plunged into the Keelung River in Taipei.
The prop-jet aircraft, traveling to Kinmen off the coast of southeast China, had 58 people aboard. Most were from China. Authorities said the death toll was expected to rise. Some of the missing were trapped in the wreckage or pulled downriver, rescue workers said.
"At the moment, things don't look too optimistic," Wu Jun-Hong, a Taipei Fire Department official, said. "Those in the front of the plane are likely to have lost their lives."
The flight took off from Songshan Airport in downtown Taipei and crashed into the river a short time later. Drivers on a nearby bridge watched in horror as the plane turned to its side, clipped the bridge with its wing and plunged into the river. Officials recovered the black boxes from the aircraft and will review the information to determine the cause of the crash.
Dashcam video posted on Twitter by user @Missxoxo168 appears to show the crash as it happened.
