Taiwan plane crash: Toll hits 48 as families visit scene
The plane came down in buildings in a village near Magong airport in Penghu
Forty-eight people are now known to have died after a passenger plane crashed in Taiwan's Penghu archipelago, amid stormy weather in the area.
The plane, carrying 58 people, crashed into buildings after a failed attempt to land at Magong airport.
The other 10 people on board were hurt. Two French nationals were among the dead, officials said. No crew members are thought to have survived.
Family members were flying to Penghu on Thursday, Taiwan media said.
Minister of Transportation Yeh Kuang-shih and aviation officials also flew to the island to start an investigation into the disaster, Taiwan's CNA news agency said.
An investigation was due to begin on Thursday once aviation officials arrived
The plane, carrying 58 people, crashed during a second attempt to land
This vehicle - photographed in torrential rain - was covered in rubble caused by the crash on Penghu
The ATR-72 TransAsia Airways plane crashed as it flew from Taiwan's southern city of Kaohsiung to Penghu, a popular tourist destination in the Taiwan Strait.
Magong is the main city in Penghu, which consists of a main island and several smaller islands off the west coast of Taiwan.
It was Taiwan's first fatal air crash in more than a decade and came after Typhoon Matmo struck, bringing torrential rain and high wind.
The plane crashed on its second attempt to land at the airport. It lost contact with controllers after telling them it was going around again. The aircraft then came down in Xixi village outside the airport.
"I heard a loud bang," TV station TBS quoted a local resident as saying. "I thought it was thunder, and then I heard another bang and I saw a fireball not far away from my house."
Images late on Wednesday night showed firefighters dousing flames at the scene and and using torches to rescue injured passengers.
Five Penghu residents were injured on the ground but by Thursday morning all had been discharged from hospital, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said.
Airframe details for Transasia Airways GE222
ATR 72-212A B-22810, operated by Transasia Airways, was the aircraft that crashed while trying to land at Makung today. The aircraft, s/n 642, first flew in June 2000 and was delivered to Transasia Airways in July 2000.
Transasia now operates a fleet of 9 ATR 72s.
According to Aviation Week Fleet Intelligence Network's Fleet database, this accident represents the 24th hull loss of an ATR 72. More than 700 ATR 72s have been built since 1988.
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