Burma: Bodies, debris found in search for missing military aircraft

8th June 2017

BODIES and aircraft debris were found in the sea off the southern coast of Burma on Thursday by a navy ship searching for a military plane which went missing with 122 soldiers, family members and crew on board.

Three bodies, including two adults and a child, were found some 35 km (22 miles) from the southern coastal town of Launglon, the military said in a statement on its official Facebook page.

A plane wheel, two life jackets and some bags with clothes – believed to be from the missing Chinese-made Y-8-200F transport plane – were also found, the statement said, adding the military search will continue.

The Chinese-made Y-8-200F transport plane vanished on early Wednesday afternoon after takeoff from the coastal town of Myeik on a weekly military flight.

SEE ALSO: Burma mounts search for missing military plane with 122 aboard

The plane lost contact 29 minutes after takeoff while flying at 18,000 feet (5,485 metres) over the Andaman Sea, about 43 miles (70 km) west of the town of Dawei, the military said.

The plane, heading north to Burma‘s largest city Yangon, carried 122 passengers, including 108 soldiers and their family members and 14 crew. Among them were 15 children, 58 adults and 35 soldiers and officers, according to a military statement.

Nine navy ships, five military planes and two helicopters were mobilised on Thursday to search for the missing aircraft.

It is monsoon season in Burma, but a civil aviation official said the weather had been “normal” with good visibility when the plane took off.