Yaounde:
Wreckage of the crashed plane Casa C212 carrying Australian mining tycoon Ken Talbot and other executives has been found. Rescuers have recovered ten bodies and the hunt is still on.
The plane was carrying 11 people, including Tycoon Ken Talbot and the entire board of the Sundance Resources mining company. On Saturday, the plane went missing over the jungles of Cameroon- Congo border while it was on its way to Yangadou in Congo-Brazzaville. The cause of the crash is still not clear. Bad weather is likely to have played a role in the crash.
"Ten bodies have been taken out of the wreckage. The search is still continuing," said Alphonse Pepa of the Congolese Transport and Civil Aviation ministry ."The decision on where the bodies will be taken will be made tomorrow," he added.
Congolese civil aviation chief Michel Ambendet said that the plane had been found at Dima which is 30 kilometers from Yangadou. Six Australians, two British, two French and one US national were on-board Casa C212, chartered by Sundance mining company. Cameroonian Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary had earlier said there were no survivors, but later confirmed that the rescuers had to still recover all the bodies.
The French military too has joined the frantic search in thick forest on the Cameroon-Congo border. Help has also been sought from the local Pygmy tribesmen. However, a dense fog cover has been hampering the efforts. Cameroon government has also rendered two helicopters along with a French military C-160 transporter to help hasten the search process.