2 KILLED, 211 INJURED IN CAL AIRLINER CRASH LANDING IN HK
Hong Kong, Aug. 22 (CNA) A China Airlines (CAL) passenger plane
with 315 on board crash landed at Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong
during typhoon late Sunday afternoon, killing 2 and injuring 211,
according to a press released by the Hong Kong Special Region
Administration govenrment.
The injured were rushed to several hospitals for treatment. A
medical task force was established by Hong Kong authorities to take
care of the injured.
The CAL Mcdonnell-Douglas-11, on a flight from Bangkok to Hong
Kong, deviated from the runway after main wings hit the ground at
landing at 6:15 p.m. due to strong side wind brought by typhoon Sam.
The aircraft was to return to Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek
International Airport at 8 p.m. after a short stop in the former
British colony.
As a result, the aircraft flipped over with its two main wings
destroyed, said Chang Kuo-cheng, deputy director-general of Taiwan's
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), at a Taipei press conference.
Five of the 15-member crew were among those injured.
But in Taipei, Transportation and Communications Minister Lin
Fong-cheng said at a press conference that none of the passengers and
crew was killed.
Lin said that a three-man team led by Chang will fly to Hong Kong
Monday morning to deal with the aftermath of the latest accident.
Upon informed of the accident, Republic of China President Lee
Teng-hui and Vice President Lien Chan ordered rlevant government
agencies to do their best to take care of those injured and other
passengers and to find out its cause as soon as possible.
The leading Taiwan airlines was tainted by its poor safety record
after several accidents in recent years.
On April 26, 1994, a CAL Airbus A300-600 crash landed at Japan's
Nagoya airport, killing 264.
On February 16, 1998, a CAL Airbus A300-600R aircraft crashed
after hitting a row of houses near Chiang Kai-shek International
Airport in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, killing 196 passengers and crew
members as well as six other people on the ground.
The Hong Kong airport, which remained open during the typhoon,
was closed after the accident.
(By Stanley Chang and Bear Lee)
EDITEM/RM
^Z
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