Dozens remain missing.
Rescuers scrambled to pull survivors from the submerged wreck of the twin engine turboprop aircraft, which went down shortly after takeoff from the Taiwanese capital.
Fifty eight people were aboard TransAsia Airways ATR-72 when it veered out of control as it flew to Kinmen, off the coast of the Chinese province of Xiamen.
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Chou Jih-shine, the vice chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation — a quasi-governmental agency which covers cross-Taiwan Strait negotiations — said that the agency had informed its Beijing counterpart. Chou added that the agency had sent personnel to the crash site.
Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said the plane was less than a year old and had last completed a safety check on January 26. The agency did not offer any information on what may have caused the crash.
Last year, an older TransAsia ATR 72, which was attempting to land in the Taiwanese Penghu Islands crashed, resulting in 49 deaths.
