At least 47 people were feared dead after a TransAsia Airways plane crashed Wednesday while trying to make an emergency landing in stormy weather in the Penghu Islands off the coast of Taiwan. Taiwan had been suffering strong winds and torrential rains Wednesday from Typhoon Matmo.
Taiwan Transport Minister Yeh Kuang-shih, who said 47 people were feared dead, was quoted by the government’s Central News Agency as saying another 11 people were injured after the ATR-72 aircraft crashed outside the airport in Xixi village while attempting a second landing. Yeh said flight carried 58 passengers and crewmembers. The CNA, quoting a local fire brigade chief, had initially reported the death toll at 51.
Flight GE222 was flying from Kaohsiung, a major city on the southwest coast of Taiwan’s main island, to Magong, one of two airports on Penghu Island, which is located halfway between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait.