There appear to be no survivors among the 49 passengers and crew of a Lao Airlines turboprop that crashed in the Mekong River.  Six Australians were on board that plane, including a young family of four from Sydney.

Thai TV showed images of witnesses standing on the muddy banks of the Mekong with what appears to be blurred-out bodies, as well as pieces of the wrecked ATR-72  twin-engine airplane.  The Lao Ministry of Public Works and Transport issued a statement reading, “Upon preparing to land at Pakse Airport the aircraft ran into extreme bad weather conditions and was reportedly crashed into the Mekong River.”

The Australian victims of this crash are identified as 39-year old Gavin Rhodes from Sydney – His 35-year old wife Phoumalaysy, known as Lea – And their two children, 3-year old Jadesuda, and little Manfred, just 17 months old.

The other two are Michael Creighton, who worked for a Norwegian aid agency in the Lao capital Vientiane, and his father Gordon.  Both men are from Glen Innes in New South Wales.