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Fifteen die in crash of Antonov-74 VIP plane in Laos

The plane was carrying the minsters of defence and public security and other senior officials

© ITAR-TASS/EPA

HANOI, May 17, 8:23 /ITAR-TASS/. An air crash in Laos’s northern province Xiangkhouang has claimed fifteen lives on Saturday.

A reliable source has told Itar-Tass the lost plane - an Antonov-74 - had been purchased just recently for carrying VIP passengers.

There were eighteen passengers and crew on board. According to information available at this point fifteen died and three were found alive. There has been no immediate information about the survivors’ condition.

The passengers were on the way for a military parade on the occasion of a jubilee of a Lao army unit.

The plane was carrying the minsters of defence and public security, their wives, the mayor of Laos’s capital Vientiane and other senior officials.

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