TransAsia plane crashes into Taiwan River; more than a dozen dead

A TransAsia airlines plane carrying 58 people crashed into a shallow river in Taipei, Taiwan, shortly after takeoff Wednesday morning, killing at least 19, The Associated Press reports. The AP says 24 people remain missing.

Video taken from a nearby car shows the twin-engine turboprop jet rolling onto its side and clipping an elevated roadway with its left wingtip before falling into the Keelung River just before 11 a.m. local time, the AP said.

"It was the second of TransAsia's French-made ATR 72 planes to crash in the past year. Last July, a flight crashed while attempting to land on the island of Penghu off Taiwan's coast, killing 48 people and injuring another 10. Stormy weather and low visibility were suspected as factors in that crash."

Rescuers from the shore rushed to get survivors out of the plane, which appeared to have almost entirely sunk into the river.

Taiwanese government authorities said 31 tourists from mainland China were on board Flight GE235, according to the AP. Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.