At least 12 people have died after a Taiwanese TransAsia Airways plane clipped a bridge and crashed into a river near the capital, Taipei.
BREAKING: Taiwan state media reports 8 dead in crash of passenger flight into Taipei river after takeoff -(AP) pic.twitter.com/fvbF1KXGUb
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More than 50 people were onboard the domestic flight, and a number of people were reportedly injured.
Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) broadcast footage of the plane almost submerged in the Keelung River.
Rescue teams are alongside the plane amid reports there are people still trapped inside.
The ATR-72 had just taken off from Taipei Songshan Airport and was headed to the outlying Kinmen islands, just off the coast of south-east China, CNA said.
CNA quoted a government spokesman as saying the plane crashed after hitting an elevated bridge.
Footage of the plane apparently filmed from inside passing cars showed it banking sharply and clipping the bridge before crashing into the river.
Taiwan's aviation authority later said at least two people had been killed.
Television images showed rescuers standing on large sections of broken wreckage trying to pull passengers out of the plane with ropes.
Those that were rescued were helped into dinghies and taken to shore.
In July last year 48 people died when a TransAsia Airways plane crashed amid stormy weather in Taiwan's Penghu archipelago.
- BBC
