Plane Carrying Koreans, Czechs Crashes In Cambodia

An aircraft carrying 13 South Koreans, three Czechs and four crew from Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temples crashed on Monday.

An aircraft carrying 13 South Koreans, three Czechs and four crew from Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temples crashed on Monday in jungle-clad mountains in the coastal province of Kampot, officials said.

There was no word on survivors.

"The plane has crashed in the Kom Chhay mountain range. I've already sent four ambulances to the crash site," Kampot governor Thach Khorn told Reuters.

Officials had found the wreckage of the plane in a remote stretch of dense forest 130 km (80 miles) southwest of the Southeast Asian nation's capital, Phnom Penh.

Rescuers at the site, which is outside mobile phone network coverage, had no word on possible survivors, he added.

The AN-24, operated by Phnom Penh-based carrier PMT Air, was on a flight from the central town of Siem Reap to the seaside resort of Sihanoukville when it disappeared in the late morning, airport officials said.

Air services between Siem Reap, home to the 800-year-old Angkor Wat temple complex, and Sihanoukville reopened in January 2007 after a prolonged hiatus during Cambodia's civil war.

The resumption of the internal route was touted as another sign of the former French colony's accelerating recovery from the destruction wrought by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge during their four years in power from 1975 to 1979.

Cambodia attracted more than 1.7 million tourists last year, most of them drawn to Angkor Wat.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry confirmed 13 South Koreans were on the flight, but did not release any names.