Vientiane, May 18 – Seventeen people, including Laos deputy prime minister Douangchay Phichit, were killed and five injured after an aircraft carrying representatives of the Laos government crashed on Saturday, an official said.
The air crash happened around 6.30 am, 1.5 km from Xieng Khouang province’s airport, news agency Xinhua reported.
Apart from Phichit, the aircraft was carrying the ecountry’s minister of public security, the secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party’s Central Committee, the chairman of the Propaganda Training Committee, and the mayor of Vientiane.
The Laos defence ministry said that the government officials were on their way to attend an event to commemorate the creation of the Lao Army’s 2nd Division.
– INDIA TODAY
