PAKSE, Laos, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The bodies of 41 of 49 people killed in a Laotian plane crash last week had been recovered from the Mekong River in Laos, South Korean officials said.
Rescue workers searched for the remaining victims.
The ATR-72 turboprop aircraft, on a domestic flight from the Laotian capital of Vientiane, crashed into the river near the airport in Pakse Wednesday during bad weather, killing all aboard, including five crew members. The passengers were from several countries.
South Korean embassy officials in Vientiane and other sources said many of the victims were yet to be identified, South Korea's Yonhap News reported. Forensic teams from South Korea, Thailand and Australia were involved in the effort, the report said.
The Lao News Agency reported that Thongloun Sisoulith, Laotian deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, had sent a message of sympathy to officials in France, Australia, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, the United States, China, Cambodia and Malaysia.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that investigators had picked up signals from the black box of the plane, but the flight data recorder had not been found in the muddy waters of the river.
The Voice of America said French investigators and Thai navy divers were using sonar equipment to locate the box but strong currents were hampering the effort.
