An aircraft belonging to the Laos state airline has crashed, killing 49 people.
All 44 passengers and five crew died when the Lao Airlines flight plunged into the river as it tried to land at Pakse International Airport on Wednesday afternoon.
The ABC reports that the twin-engine turbo plane was on a domestic flight from the capital Vientiane to the airport in the Champasak province in southern Laos.
State-owned Lao Airlines issued a statement via its Facebook page saying the plane ran into "extreme bad weather conditions" and plane plunged into the river as it tried to land at Pakse International Airport at 4pm (local time).
Also understood to be among the dead are six Australians, seven from France, 17 from Laos, three South Koreans, two Vietnames, and individuals from the United States, China, Taiwan, and Canada.
