UBON RATCHATHANI, Oct 23 – The crashed Lao Airlines plane was lifted from the Mekong River yesterday, about one kilometre from the spot where it plunged into the river last Wednesday, killing all 49 people on board.
Forensic officials have identified 26 out of 42 bodies retrieved from the river. Another Thai victim was verified yesterday and identified as Yanyong Apanand.
The bodies of three Thais were flown in a Royal Thai Air Force C-130 transport plane to Bangkok.
Prasop Sarnsamak, deputy chief of Ubon Ratchathani health office, said three foreign victims would be moved from Champasak in Laos to a Thai hospital in the northeastern province opposite Laos.
The identified bodies were 11 Lao, four Thais, three South Koreans, two Vietnamese and each from Malaysia, Cambodia, Taiwan, the US and Canada.
The remaining victims which have yet to be identified included nine Lao, seven French, six Australians and a Thai.
Lao officials reported that the ill-fated aircraft and the data recording device Black Box were retrieved from the Mekong River yesterday.
