THAILAND: Investigations continue into Phuket plane crash as religious ceremonies held in front of wreckage

Family members of survivors of a budget airliner that crashed on the Thai resort island of Phuket on Sunday (September 16), killing 89 people, arrived at the island's main hospital on Tuesday (September 18) to greet their loved ones. According to Larry Cunningham, Australian Honorary Consul in Phuket, one of two Australians believed to have been on the flight has not yet been identified and is believed to be among the dead. "Definitely confirmed, one hundred percent confirmed, is one injury that is here in Bangkok Phuket hospital. We are awaiting positive identification in the form of dental records and DNA for one other passenger and we believe he is Australian," Cunningham said. Some of the 41 survivors are receiving treatment for severe injuries, including serious burns. The identities of the victims are slowly being released. The names of 32 Thais and 21 foreigners have been confirmed so far, but some relatives are frustrated at the slow pace of identifying the dead. Iran has confirmed that 17 of its nationals were among the dead, its consular official in Phuket told Reuters Television. "Unfortunately, there were 24 Iranians on board the One-Two-Go flight. Unfortunately, 18 of them were killed," Safdar Safiee, Iranian consular official in Thailand said. The morgue in Phuket was filled with people searching for answers on Tuesday. Posters with the photographs of the dead were posted on the walls of the building and relatives searched through lists, frantically searching for information. Forensic experts from Israel, one of 20 countries that sent teams to Phuket to help identify victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, arrived on Tuesday to help identify eight Israeli passengers who are feared dead. "The identification will not be final until the families go inside and that we'll be doing later this morning," explained Dano Monkotowicz, one of the Israeli rescue workers. Officials say they hope the identification process will come to an end within the next few days, after which the list of the names of the deceased will be released. Religious ceremonies were conducted in front of the plane wreckage at Phuket International Airport early on Tuesday morning. Buddhist monks were joined by Muslim and Catholic clerics in offering prayers for the passengers who perished and tens more injured. The wreckage of One-Two-Go flight OG 269, which crashed while attempting to land at Phuket airport amidst bad weather conditions, has now been moved near the airport building, two kilometres from the original crash site. Regular flights from Phuket resumed in the morning with dozens of tourists leaving the resort island. One-Two-Go Airlines also resumed regular flights with a trickle of passengers checking in.

ITN Source | September 18, 2007

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