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Cambodia search for missing plane Rain hits Cambodia plane search
(about 1 hour later)
Rescue teams in Cambodia are still searching for a passenger plane they believe crashed more than 24 hours ago. Bad weather is hampering the search for a plane carrying 22 people, mainly foreign tourists, that is believed to have crashed in south-west Cambodia.
Twenty-two people were on board the flight between two popular tourist destinations when air traffic control lost contact. Rescue teams have been focusing their search on the dense forests of Kampot province, where witnesses say they saw the plane come down.
The search is concentrating on hills and forests in the south-west. The plane had been flying between two popular tourist destinations when contact was lost on Monday.
Aviation authorities have suggested that bad weather might have caused the crash and now that weather is making the search extremely difficult. Hundreds of soldiers and police are taking part in the rescue effort.
Conservation workers in the area saw the plane go down but couldn't give a precise location. But the thick clouds and heavy rain have made visibility extremely poor.
NATIONALITIES ON BOARD 13 South KoreansFive Cambodians (crew)Three CzechsRussian pilotNATIONALITIES ON BOARD 13 South KoreansFive Cambodians (crew)Three CzechsRussian pilot
Military helicopters have been attempting to locate the plane but visibility is extremely poor because of thick clouds and heavy rain. "You can't see each other more than 40 metres away," civil aviation safety chief Keo Sivorn was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
The teams on the ground are facing similar problems. The tracks through Kampot's mountainous forests are so muddy that using vehicles is almost impossible, so progress is having to be made on foot, the BBC's Guy De Launey in Phnom Penh says.
The tracks through the forests in Kampot province are so muddy that using vehicles is almost impossible - progress has to be made on foot. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has offered a $5,000 (£2,500) reward to anyone who can help find the crash site.
The PMT AN-24 plane had been making a short scheduled flight from Siem Reap to the coastal town of Sihanoukville when it disappeared from radar screens. But he admitted that "our hope of finding survivors is slim".
Most of the passengers were members of a South Korean tour group who were heading for the beach after spending time at the Angkor temples. The AN-24 plane had been making a short scheduled flight from Siem Reap to the coastal town of Sihanoukville when it disappeared from radar screens on Monday morning.
The service has only been running since January and tourism officials hoped it would encourage visitors to spend longer in the country. Aviation authorities have suggested that bad weather might have played a part in the crash.
Around a quarter-of-a-million tourists visited Cambodia from South Korea last year - more than any other nationality. Conservation workers in Kampot province say they saw the plane go down but could not give a precise location.
Thirteen of the passengers were members of a South Korean tour group who were heading for the beach after spending time at the Angkor temples.
Three Czechs and the five-member Cambodian crew were also on board.
The PMT Air service has only been running since January and tourism officials had hoped it would encourage visitors to spend longer in the country, our correspondent says.
Some 250,000 tourists visited Cambodia from South Korea last year - more than any other nationality.