PAKSE, Laos (AP) — Rescuers in fishing boats pulled bodies from the muddy Mekong River on Thursday as officials in Laos ruled out finding survivors from a plane that crashed in stormy weather, killing 49 people from 11 countries.
Backpacks, two broken airplane propellers and passports were among the debris scattered on the riverbank where the Lao Airlines turboprop plane left deep skid marks in the ground before disappearing into the water Wednesday.
"We have found nine bodies so far. At this point we don't 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 ruled out finding survivors. "There is no hope. The plane appears to have crashed very hard before entering the water."
Some of the bodies were found by fishermen floating downstream as far as 20 kilometers (12 miles) 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 said.