20000115

23 feared

dead in Swiss

plane crash

TRIPOLI: Twenty-three people were dead or missing following the crash on Thursday of a Swiss plane carrying foreign oil workers off the Libyan coast, the Libyan civil aviation authority said.

Eighteen of the 41 people on board survived the crash and were rescued from the sea, Libyan authorities said, adding that rescuers were continuing to search for more people.

The Libyan news agency JANA said there were 38 passengers and three crew, including 17 Libyans on the British-built Short 360-300.

An oil industry source said 13 Britons, three Croats, three Indians, three Filipinos, two Canadians and a Pakistani were amogs those on the plane.

The plane ditched into the sea near the airport at Al-Burayqah 600 kilometres (370 miles) east of Tripoli, after a two hour flight from the capital.

The plane had begun its descent to the airport and was flying at only 700 metres (2,100 feet) when it began to experience problems with its two engines, the aviation authority said in a statement reported by the JANA news agency.ÑAFP