Searchers dig in muddy swamp near Bangkok where plane carrying 5 Chinese tourists, 4 Thais crashed

BANGKOK (AP) — Searchers dug into the mud of a flooded mangrove swamp outside Bangkok on Friday for plane fragments and the remains of the five Chinese passengers and four Thai flight crew members believed killed in a crash shortly after takeoff.

Around 300 officers and rescue volunteers have been searching the crash site and will send any remains they are able to recover for forensic identification, Chachoengsao province Gov. Chonlatee Yangtrong said late Thursday night. Only small body parts had been recovered so far.

The crash site about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Suvarnabhumi Airport was flooded when tides rose from from a nearby river that flows into the Gulf of Thailand. Video showed fragments of the plane in water in the middle of a wooded area. A rescuer worked in muddy water up to his chest.

Five Chinese tourists and four Thais, a pilot, co-pilot and two airline service personnel, had been on board the plane, provincial government spokesperson Sangdune Jewyu said.

The tourists were initially said to be from Hong Kong, but Hong Kong’s Immigration Department said Friday they were not Hong Kong residents. Photos posted on social media and on Thai media websites showed all of their passports had been issued in Shanghai.

Thai media, including the Bangkok Post newspaper, identified the Chinese victims as Zhang Jingjing, 12; Zhang Jing, 42; Tang Yu, 42; Yin Jinfeng, 45; and Yin Hang, 13.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand said the turboprop Cessna Caravan C208B operated by the Thai Flying Service Company had departed at 2:46 p.m. and air traffic control lost radio and radar contact with the aircraft 11 minutes later, when it was about 35 kilometers (22 miles) southeast of the airport.

It had been headed to Trat, a coastal province with beach resorts about 275 kilometers (171 miles) southeast of Bangkok.

The authorities said the cause of the crash is not yet known, and an investigation is underway. The weather at the time of the flight was clear.

Pongthep Sirisawat of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee of Thailand said they have recovered about 30% of the plane so far. Because the plane had no black box and there are likely no survivors, it is necessary to collect as many pieces of the plane as possible to determine the cause of the accident, he said.