Singapore Minister to Leave for Taipei SoonFatalities in the SQ 006 crash has increased to 79 and Singapore Minister for Communications and Information Technology Yeo Cheow Tong is leaving for Taipei to see for himself the situation arising from the SQ 006 crash.The Singapore Airline (SIA) told a press conference that the latest information from the crash site confirms that of the 159 passengers and 20 crews on board SQ 006, there were 48 who received outpatient treatment and 51 injured and hospitalized, 79 fatalities and one whose condition is not yet known. Of the 48 who received outpatient treatment, 35 were passengers, 10 cabin crew and three were flight crew. A SIA officer for public relations said on telephone that the aircraft which will carry Minister for Communications and Information Technology Yeo Cheow Tong to Taipei will take off at 1930 hours local time today. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology said that Yeo will be accompanied by the Director-General of Civil Aviation Wong Woon Liang and senior government officials and he will also visit injured passengers who have been admitted to hospitals in Taipei. It also said that 130 SIA support staff left for Taipei on special flight SQ 0182 this morning but the flight could not land in Taipei due to weather conditions and was diverted to Hong Kong. According to SIA, another flight, SQ 988, assigned to bring 48 family members and another SIA officials from Singapore to Taipei, was delayed until 1530 hours local time when it finally departed for Taipei. It also said SIA is planning a special flight from Los angels to Taipei tomorrow morning to take U.S. families of passengers to the site. SQ 006, a B747-400, from Taipei to Los Angels with 159 passengers and 20 crew on board crashed on the runway during the takeoff run at Taoyuan airport near Taipei Wednesday night. |
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