Malaysia plane crash kills 34, 16 survive

Malaysia plane crash kills 34, 16 survive

KOTA KINABALU (Reuter): Thirty-four passengers died and 16 survived a Malaysian Airline System (MAS) plane crash yesterday in the Borneo island state of Sabah, the national carrier's worst disaster in nearly two decades, police said.

Police in the Sabah town of Tawau said the charred remains of 34 passengers had been found, while two people were still missing.

Earlier officials had said 40 bodies had been recovered, while initial estimates had put the death toll as high as 47.

The ill-fated flight MH2133 from the Sabah state capital Kota Kinabalu was carrying 49 passengers and four crew members. It was attempting to land at Tawau airport when it overshot the runway and plunged into neighboring squatter houses.

Police said nine people were injured on the ground, two critically. They said most of the people living in the squatter houses were Indonesians and Filipinos.

Eyewitnesses and MAS ground staff at Tawau said they heard a big explosion and saw the Fokker 50 engulfed in flames after it ploughed into 20 wooden squatter houses near the airport, the national Bernama news agency reported.

One of the survivors, MAS steward Kamarul Bahrin, told Reuters the plane had suddenly slowed and then picked up speed again just before the crash.

"About 19 minutes before the landing at about 12.22 pm (0422 GMT), the plane suddenly slowed down and then picked up speed again. I made my routine checks to see if the passengers were buckled safely before I went back to my seat near the cockpit," he said.

Kamarul, who was admitted to a hospital with injuries, said:" I felt the landing gear come out as we were landing", adding that he felt the left side of the plane hit the ground before he heard explosions.

Malaysia's Meteorological Department reported that the weather around Tawau airport close to the time of the accident had been cloudy but visibility on the runway was normal.

A spokesperson said visibility at the time of the crash was more than 10 kilometers.

MAS chairman Tajudin Ramli said a team of experts from the aircraft's Dutch manufacturers was flying in to investigate the crash.

He told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that the Fokker 50 which crashed had just had its engines checked two days ago and been given a clean bill of health.

MAS shares fell to their year-low on news of the crash, traders said.

They closed at 7.15 ringgit, down 30 cents. The previous low for 1995 was 7.20 ringgit.