Gathering at the Myeik Air Force Base earlier this afternoon, senior officers from the military, navy, and air force met with the families of the passengers who were on board the military plane that crashed yesterday. In addition to offering their condolences, the officials gave MMK700,000 (about US$518) to each family.
The base was the flight’s last point of departure. It left Myeik at 1:06pm and was bound for Yangon, but ground staff lost contact at around 1:35pm.
Hundreds of locals, relatives, and NGO workers endured an agonizing wait on the rain-battered San Hlan beach accompanied by stony-faced soldiers, as helicopters flew overhead heading towards military vessels just visible on the horizon.
“My cousin’s sister’s family was in the plane crash — her husband, her child and herself,” Kyaw Swar Myint, 44, from Dawei, told AFP.
More bodies have been recovered throughout the day, the office of the chief of defense services has confirmed. As of 3:30pm today, the death tally is at 29 with the bodies of one male, 20 females, and eight children having been retrieved so far.
Both military personnel and their family members were onboard the aircraft. According to AFP, some were travelling for medical check-ups or to attend school in Yangon.
The Myanmar military named the captain of the Shaanxi Y8 four-engine turboprop as Lieutenant Colonel Nyein Chan, who it said had more than 3,000 hours of flying experience.
Myanmar’s military fleet has a checkered recent history of plane crashes. A five-strong crew died when an air force plane burst into flames soon after taking off from Naypyidaw in February last year. Three army officers were also killed in June when their Mi-2 helicopter crashed into a hillside and burst into flames in south-central Bago.
Additional reporting by AFP
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