Passenger jet crashes in southern Thailand

BANGKOK: A passenger jet carrying 128 passengers and crew crashed and broke into two on landing in bad weather at Thailand's resort island of Phuket, news reports said Sunday.   

The MD-80 plane, operated by Thai budget carrier One-Two-Go, was flying to Phuket on southern Thailand's Andaman coast from the capital Bangkok.   

"The airplane asked to land but due to the weather in Phuket - strong wind and heavy rain - maybe the pilot did not see the runway clearly," civil aviation official Chiasak Angkauwan told TiTV news channel.   

"The plane then fell onto the runway and broke into two. It is expected that there will be deaths."   

‘We are rescuing people from the aircraft ... we know now there were 123 passengers and five crew,’ he told the news channel.   

"We won't know what really happened until we hear the black box."   

Aviation officials and police in the area were not immediately available to confirm the accident.   

More than 30 people likely died in the crash of a Thai airliner on the resort island of Phuket on Sunday, a senior provincial official told Thailand's TiTV television.   

"The number of deaths is still unclear but it is likely more than 30 people," said Anchalee Vanich Thepbutr.

"The aircraft slid off the runway and hit the nearby jungle."