Bodies found after Laos plane crash

Six Australians were among those killed when a Lao Airlines plane crashed into the Mekong River. Source: AAP

DIVERS are searching for bodies after a Lao Airlines plane believed to be carrying 49 people, around half of them foreigners including Australians, plunged into the Mekong River during stormy weather.

Six Australians, seven French citizens and five Thais were among those thought to have been killed when the turboprop ATR-72 came down on Wednesday near Pakse airport in Champasak province.

Debris was seen floating in the river at the scene of the disaster, while suitcases were wedged in mud on the riverbank, according to an AFP reporter.

Backpacks, an aeroplane propeller and passports were among the debris scattered on the riverbank where the Lao Airlines turboprop plane apparently hit hard before skidding into the water and sinking on Wednesday, AP reported.

Around a dozen rescuers were using a crane perched on a floating platform in the middle of the Mekong on Thursday to try to winch the submerged aircraft from the river, which was swollen by a recent tropical storm.

Divers from a Thai rescue team were on the scene to assist in the operation.

State-owned Lao Airlines said more than half of the 44 passengers and five crew on board were foreign nationals.

Citizens from up to 11 countries were reported to have been on the flight from the capital Vientiane.

"So far eight bodies have been found. We don't yet know their nationalities, said Yakao Lopangkao director-general of Lao's Department of Civil Aviation, who was at the crash site in Pakse, in southern Laos.

"We haven't found the plane yet. It is underwater. We're trying to use divers to locate it," he told AP.

He ruled out any chance of finding survivors. "There is no hope. The plane appears to have crashed very hard before entering the water."

Some bodies were found as far as 20 kilometres from the crash site, he said.

"We have asked villagers and people who live along the river to look for bodies and alert authorities when they see anything," he told AP.

Fleets of small fishing boats and inflatable rafts plied the muddy, vast waterway as part of the search with men in life vests peering into the water. After storms on Wednesday, the search took place under sunny blue skies.

Some of the bodies were taken to a mortuary at a Chinese temple in Pakse.

Three bodies draped in blue plastic sheets were seen in the building, which was guarded by about 10 policemen, some armed, who turned away onlookers.

"They are foreigners from the crash," staff at the centre told AFP, adding that their nationalities were unknown.

Lao Airlines said the aircraft hit "extreme" bad weather, while witnesses described seeing the aircraft buffeted by strong winds.

"The plane was about to land but appeared to be hit by a strong wind, causing its head to ascend and pushing it away from the airport area and out of reach of the air traffic control radar," state-run Laos news agency KPL quoted a witness as saying.

According to a passenger list published by Thai media, people from the US, China, Taiwan Vietnam, Canada, South Korea and Malaysia were also on the flight.

The six Australians killed comprised two families - Gavin Rhodes, 39, his wife Phoumalaysy (Lea) Rhodes, 35, and their children 17-month-old Manfred Rhodes and three-year-old Jadesuda Rhodes; and a father and son, Gordon Creighton, 71, and Michael Creighton, 42.

France said it was rushing embassy officials to the site of the crash.

French President Francois Hollande learned of the disaster "with profound emotion and great sadness" and offered "sincere condolences" and full support to the victims' families, his office said in a statement.

Thailand said five of its nationals had died.

Three South Koreans were also among the victims, according to the Transport Ministry in Seoul.

Taiwan said one of its citizens was killed while Beijing's official Xinhua news agency said one Chinese was on board. It said an earlier figure of two had included the Taiwanese victim.

Flight QV301 set off from Vientiane on time at 2.45pm (1845 AEDT) on Wednesday and was supposed to arrive in Pakse just over an hour later.

French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR said the twin-engine turboprop aircraft was new and had been delivered in March.

The director-general of the country's Department of Civil Aviation, Yakua Lopangkao, told the Vientiane Times newspaper that the accident may have occurred because of bad weather triggered by tropical storm Nari.

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