Deadly Plane Crash In Taiwan Kills At Least 23

At least 23 people are dead after TransAsia Airways Flight GE 235 crashed into a river in Taiwan. The plane, which had just left from Taipei Songshan Airport, apparently clipped a bridge as it was ascending. The 58 passengers on board were heading to the islands in Kinmen, southeast of the China coast, and it is believed that the majority of people on board were from mainland China. According to officials, rescuers have saved at least a dozen people, but more are missing and rescuers have pulled several from the wreckage.

It's a devastating situation for Taiwan, where last July 48 people were killed aboard TransAsia Flight GE 222 after it crashed while trying to land in the Penghu Islands. Although there was heavy rain that day, airport officials had declared it was acceptable for the plane to land because there was at least a mile of visibility. The plane in the July crash was the same model, an ATR 72-500, as the plane in the crash Wednesday morning.

A dashboard camera from a Taiwanese resident captured video of Flight GE 235 hitting the bridge with its wing. The resident posted the video on Twitter, and though her account is locked, several users shared her video and several other photos on social media.

With two TransAsia Airways flights crashing in seven months, the airline has not yet been able to be reached for comment, The Wall Street Journal reports.

This is the most recent in a string of several Asian airline plane crashes and disappearances. Wreckage from AirAsia Flight QZ8501, which crashed in late December after departing from Indonesia, showed the airliner was climbing at a speed of 6,000 feet per minute, much faster than the typical ascent. The 162 passengers on the jet were all likely killed. Satellite data from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared last March, indicated the plane might have run out of fuel, causing it to crash in the Indian Ocean and killing the 239 passengers on board.