Live: Plane with 53 passengers aboard crashes into river   

臺灣復興航空墜河事故最新統計：31死17傷12失蹤

Xi orders assistance after TransAsia plane crash (Xinhua)

TransAsia Airways shares reach limit after plane crash

TransAsia Airways shares fell 6.9 percent to reach the decline limit of 7 percent after a plane carrying 58 passengers, including five crew members, crashed into a Taipei river. (Read more) (Ecns.cn)

Latest updates from Chinadaily.com.cn

01:05 am

Bodies of pilot and co-pilot of the wrecked plane were retrieved, according to Taiwan's central news agency.

00:50 am, Feb 5 Death toll rises to 31

Another 12 remained missing and 15 injured, according to Taiwan's central news agency.

9:51 pm Xi orders assistance

10:30 pm  Wreckage recovered from river

The wreckage of the aircraft was recovered from the river in New Taipai City, according to Reuters.

9:03 pm  Insurers face massive payout

Insurance companies will have to pay out at least NT$700 million (130 million yuan) in compensation, Taiwan's insurance regulator estimated after the TransAsia plane crash that killed at least 23 people on Wednesday.

The airline can claim US$20 million (12.5 million yuan) in total from eight insurers for fuselage damage to the ill-fated ATR 72-600 aircraft carrying 58 passengers and crew.

Among that number were 31 mainland tourists who had travel insurance, huanqiu.com cited Taiwan media as saying.

Some insurers have already initiated compensation procedures.

8:33 pm  Mainland fatalities identified

The two men are Wang Qinghuo and Wang Zhangsheng, according to Taiwan civil aviation authorities.

7:00 pm  Premier Li urges rapid response

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called for closer Cross-Straits cooperation and assistance to families of passengers after a TransAsia plane carrying 58 people, including 31 tourists from the mainland, crashed in Taiwan on Wednesday.

The Kinmen-bound plane cartwheeled into the Keelong River shortly after taking off from Taipei's Sungshan Airport, leaving at least 23 dead and a dozen others, including five crew members, missing.

Two passengers from Xiamen, East China's Fujian province were reportedly among the dead, according to Straits News, a Fujian-based newspaper.

Li also urged that verification of the status of people on board be determined as soon as possible and psychological counseling provided to families of passengers.

6:17 pm  TransAsia's safety record under scrutiny

Taiwan regulators are likely to put more pressure on TransAsia Airways to review its maintenance and safety procedures after Wednesday's crash, its second fatal accident in seven months, Reuters reported.

Industry data showed the crash of Flight GE235, in which at least 16 people were killed, was the fifth aircraft the airline has written off since 1995.

5:48 pm  Plane manufacturer in response

The French-Italian manufacturer of the plane, ATR, said it is aware of the accident but has yet to confirm further details. More information will be issued after confirmation, according to the manufacture.

5:10 pm TransAsia chief makes an apology

4:50 pm  Flight and data recorders retrieved

4:35 pm  Pilot, stewardesses remain missing

The aircraft's pilot and stewardesses remain unaccounted for as rescuers continue to search for survivors at the crash site.

The last communication from one of the pilots was "Mayday Mayday engine flameout", according to an air traffic control recording on liveatc.net.

4:20 pm  19 people killed

The death toll has risen to 19 after a Taiwanese flight with 58 people turned on its side in midair, clipped an elevated roadway and careened into a river Wednesday shortly after takeoff from the island's capital of Taipei, according to China Central Television Station.

The death toll was expected to rise as rescue crews cleared the mostly sunken fuselage in the Keelung River a couple dozen meters (yards) from the shore. Teams of rescuers in rubber rafts clustered around the wreckage.

4:01 pm  15 people killed

The death toll has risen to 15 after a Taiwanese flight with 58 people turned on its side in midair, clipped an elevated roadway and careened into a river Wednesday shortly after takeoff from the island's capital of Taipei, according to Taiwan-based media.

The death toll was expected to rise as rescue crews cleared the mostly sunken fuselage in the Keelung River a couple dozen meters (yards) from the shore. Teams of rescuers in rubber rafts clustered around the wreckage.

3:30 pm  Identities of 4 passengers from mainland confirmed

Yan Chunwei, an employee of China Telecom's Xiamen branch, and his son have been reportedly injured in the crash. Yan's wife escaped injuries.

Xiamen Power Supply Bureau said its employee Huang Liping is now under emergency treatment while Huang Yifei and Hua Li are not on the survivors' list.

3:10 pm 13 killed, 17 remain missing

The death toll has risen to 13, with 17 reportedly missing by 3:00 pm, according the TransAsia Airways. The 28 injured people have been sent to hospital.

2:50pm 16 passengers rescued

Sixteen passengers on board the crashed plane have been rescued and rushed to nearby hospitals. Two of them (one male, one female) died before arriving at the hospital, Taiwan aviation authority said. The plane issued Mayday call two minutes after taking off.

2:30 pm Condolences extended

The Taiwan Office of the State Council and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits conveyed condolences to the victims of an air crash after a Taiwan airliner with 58 passengers and crew members on board crashed into river on Wednesday.

2:15 pm  12 killed, 30 missing

The death toll has risen to 12, with 30 reportedly missing, Taiwan-based central news agency reported. 

1:56 pm  Death toll rise to 10

The death toll has risen to 10 after a TransAsia plane carrying 53 passengers crash landed in a Taipei river on Wednesday, according to Xiamenn Daily. No passengers from the mainland are on the list. 

1:50 pm  30 people still trapped on plane

1:40 pm  22 people rescured

Twenty-two people have been rescued after a TransAsia plane carrying 53 passengers crash landed in a Taipei river on Wednesday. Around 36 remain missing.

1:00 pm  Nine people killed

Nine people were confirmed dead after a Taiwan TransAsia plane carrying 53 passengers and five crew members crashed landed in a Taipei river on Wednesday.

About 16 people were rescued, civil aeronautics authorities told a media briefing. Thirty-one Chinese mainland tourists were among those on board, the local tourism bureau said.

A TransAsia Airways plane with 53 passengers aboard clipped a bridge shortly after takeoff and crashed into a river in Taipei.

Local media said 10 people are awaiting rescue after the incident. It did not immediately clarify whether the remaining passengers had already been rescued.

Pictures on the web show the plane in the water about 100 meters (yards) from the shore of Keelung River.

Local media said the flight from Taipei to Jinmen lost contact with flight controllers at about 10:55 am and the fuselage landed in the Keelung River.

The plane was identified as a French-made twin-engine turboprop ATR 72 with a two-pilot air crew. (Updated)

Basic facts about aircraft ATR-72