Tail of missing Myanmar military aircraft found

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON, Myanmar (AA) - A fishing boat has found the tail of a military plane that went missing off the country’s southern coast a week back, according to the military on Thursday.

The Chinese-made Y8-200F plane was carrying 122 people including 15 children when it crashed into the Andaman Sea on June 7 during a flight to Yangon from the coastal town of Myeik in southern Tanintharyi.

So far, 90 bodies have been recovered, a statement from the Office of Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing said.

The aircraft tail with the number 5820 was found tangled in a fishing net under the sea at the depth of 35 meters, it said.

The cause of the crash remains unclear.

Hlaing, who heads Myanmar’s armed forces, said the weather was likely to have been the main factor in the accident, according to local media reports.