SAN HLAN // Hundreds of people gathered on a beach in southern Myanmar on Thursday, desperately waiting for news of their loved ones as the first bodies arrived from the wreck of a military plane that crashed with more than 120 people on board.
Navy ships and air force planes have been scouring the waves since Wednesday afternoon, when the aircraft disappeared en route from the southern city of Myeik to the commercial hub of Yangon.
By mid-afternoon the commander-in-chief’s office said 29 corpses – 20 women, one man and eight children – had been retrieved from the sea after a navy vessel discovered wreckage from the plane off the coastline near the town of Dawei.
Hundreds of locals, relatives and NGO workers clasping umbrellas watched as a fishing boat laden with the dead pulled up to San Hlan beach, where they were unloaded by NGO workers and uniformed soldiers wearing masks and gloves.
Twenty-nine corpses of different sizes, wrapped in black and white plastic bags, were brought onshore from the boat.
"My cousin’s sister’s family was in the plane crash – her husband, her child and herself," said Kyaw Swar Myint, 44, from Dawei.
"We heard news that the helicopter was now transporting about 20 dead bodies to the beach, so we are waiting here."
A military officer said strong currents have made it hard for boats to reach the shore, which means many of the bodies may have to be airlifted to land.
The Chinese-made Shaanxi Y8 plane was carrying a total of 122 people when it disappeared on Wednesday afternoon during a routine flight, according to the army chief.
More than half of the passengers were military family members, and included 15 children, the army chief’s office said. Thirty-five soldiers and 14 crew members were also on board.
Some were travelling for medical check-ups or to study in Yangon.
The office of state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi released a statement expressing condolences to the victims.
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi offered to help in recovery efforts, while the US embassy sent sympathies to the families of those lost in the "tragedy".
It is monsoon season in Myanmar, but there were no major storms reported along the aircraft’s flight path on Wednesday afternoon.
The military said the plane was flying at over 18,000 feet when it lost contact with air traffic control at 1.35pm on Wednesday, about half an hour after take-off.
Gerry Soejatman, an independent aviation expert based in Jakarta, said the information indicated something went wrong "not long after or just before reaching cruising altitude".
The military named the captain as "seasoned" pilot Lieutenant Colonel Nyein Chan, who it said had more than 3,000 hours of flying experience.
He was flying the Chinese-made, four-engine Y8 turboprop – a medium-range transport plane based on the Soviet Antonov An-12, which has had numerous crashes over the decades.
Myanmar’s former junta bought several Y8s during their 50 years of isolated rule, when they were squeezed by western sanctions.
* Agence France-Presse
