(17 Sep 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Various of Veera Pithaktrairat, who took amateur video of the plane crash
2. SOUNDBITE: (Thai) Veera Pithaktrairat, eyewitness to the plane crash:
"I was shopkeeping when I turned and saw the plane coming down. There were sparks (when it touched down), but I didn't hear any explosion. Then, I ran to look for the camera."
3. Amateur video of the plane on fire
4. SOUNDBITE: (Thai) Veera Pithaktrairat, eyewitness to the plane crash:
"I remember seeing three passengers coming out of the plane. It was raining heavily. Then, about 15 minutes later, a fire truck arrived. There were not really any flames, but a lot of smoke. A little while later, there was an explosion, but not very loud. And that broke the plane in the middle."
5. Close-up of camera monitor showing the amateur video of the plane crash
STORYLINE
A Thai man, who filmed amateur video, told the Associated Press on Monday about what he witnessed when a passenger plane crashed in heavy rain on Sunday on Thailand's tourist island of Phuket, killing 88 people and injuring 42, many of those foreign tourists.
Veera Pithaktrairat, was working in his parents shop when he saw the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 plane crash.
"There were sparks (when it touched down), but I didn't hear any explosion. Then, I ran to look for the camera," he told the Associated Press in Phuket.
Officials at the scene said the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 plane crashed in a downpour, skidded off the runaway and broke into two parts.
One-Two-Go Airlines flight OG269 was carrying 123 passengers and seven crew members to Phuket from the Thai capital, Bangkok, said a spokeswoman for Airports of Thailand.
There were 78 foreigners on board, she said.
Veera said he remembers seeing three passengers attempting to exit the plane in heavy rain.
"About 15 minutes later, a fire truck arrived. There were not really any flames but a lot of smoke. A little while later, there was an explosion, but not very loud. And that broke the plane in the middle," he added.
Veera's amateur video showed the plane on fire, and firefighters working to put out the blaze.
The deputy governor of Phuket province, Worapot Ratthaseema, said the dead included French, Dutch, German, Israeli, Australian and British nationals.
It was not immediately clear how many foreigners had died, he said.
However, Thailand's Public Health and Interior Ministries issued lists of almost 30 foreign survivors.
Survivors described a chaotic situation, trying to escape from windows as fires and smoke consumed the plane.
A member of staff at Bangkok Phuket Hospital, said that 32 passengers were at the hospital, and that 24 of them were foreigners.
He said they included eight Britons, five Germans, five Iranians, two Israelis and at least one Australian, Irish and Canadian passengers.
Another hospital official said that many of those injured had broken legs and similar injuries from jumping from the burning plane.
He added that there were five people in critical condition at the hospital, including a British woman with burns over 60 per cent of her body and another person with broken ribs.
The other injured foreigners were at Phuket International Hospital.
Doctor Charnsilp Wacharajira, who carried out autopsies on some of those killed, said they died of traumatic injuries to the head, indicating that the impact of the crash, rather than the fire, killed them.
Worapot told the Associated Press that officials had counted at least 74 bodies, which have been laid out in an airport building.
Keyword- aircraft crash - aviation
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