13 dead as plane crashes into Taiwan river

Taipei:At least 13 people were killed after a TransAsia Airways plane clipped a bridge and crashed into a river Wednesday near the Taiwanese capital.

A total of 27 passengers were rescued and taken to nearby hospitals, Xinhua reported.

Flight ATR-72, which was headed for Kinmen from Taipei, had 58 people onboard including 31 passengers from the Chinese mainland and five crew members.

It crashed into the Keelung river after clipping an elevated motorway with its wing at 10.55 a.m., ten minutes after taking off from Taipei Songshan Airport.

The plane has been in use since April 2014 and was subject to a safety check in January, according to local authorities.