Vientiane – According to news that slowly emerge from Pakse in the southern part of Lao PDR, some 39 people died, when a Lao Airlines plane crashed into the Mekong River near Pakse International Airport.

The plane was on an domestic flight from the capital Vientiane, when it crashed into the river, as it attempted to land at Pakse International Airport in the late afternoon.

Bangkok Post reported that the ART twin-turbo plane flight QV301 crashed into the river, as it was coming in to land at the airport in southern Laos due to bad weather.

The plane left Wattay airport in Vientiane at 2.45 pm local time and crashed in Pakse at 4 pm, the report said.

Airline and government officials in Laos were not immediately available for comment. AT/Reinhard Hohler