Airliner Crash Lands on Central Myanmar Road (PHOTO)
On Tuesday, a plane crashed and landed on a Myanmar road killing at least two people and injuring 11, officials said.
Four foreigners were among the injured on the Air Bagan flight. The Information Ministry initially identified the fatalities as three Myanmar citizens: a tour guide and an 11-year-old child on board the plane, and a man riding a motorcycle on the road where the plane came down. A later report from the airline mentioned only two deaths.
The flight was carrying 71 people, including 48 foreign passengers, from the city of Mandalay to Heho airport in Shan State, the gateway to a popular tourist destination, Inle Lake, Air Bagan said in a statement Tuesday evening that revised earlier figures.
Air Bagan identified the injured tourists as two Americans, a French national and a Taiwanese. It initially described the incident as an “emergency landing” and later said “the plane hit electrical cables about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Heho airport as it descended and landed in rice fields.”
It said the plane burst into flames two minutes after the passengers were safely evacuated by the crew.
Authorities gave a different account, saying the pilot mistook the road for a runway due to bad weather.