Fourteen people including the defence minister were killed when a Lao Air Force plane crashed on Saturday, according to the Lao government.
Rescue workers search the crash site near Nadee village in Xiangkhouang province of Laos on Saturday. (Reuters photo)
The victims included three members of the central committee of the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party. Three people reportedly survived the crash, according to a government name list obtained by the Bangkok Post.
The plane crashed in the northeastern province of Xiangkhouang, killing Defence Minister Douangchay Phichit, who was also a deputy prime minister and member of the politburo, and his wife Panda, officials said.
Lao Defence Minister Lt Gen Douangchay Phichit was among those who died in the plane crash on Saturday. (AP photo)
Also killed were Public Security Minister Thongban Saengaphon, Vientiane Governor Soukan Mahalat, party propaganda chief Chuang Sombounkhan and nine other passengers. Lt Gen Douanchay's secretay, close aide and driver were among the dead.
Three people survived including a crew member, according to the government
The group - 11 passengers and 6 crew - was en route to a ceremony marking the 55th anniversary of the 2nd Battalion's victory over royalist forces at the Plain of Jars.
The Thai embassy in Vientiane reported the crash at 6.15am.
The official Lao news agency KPL confirmed the crash — which it said involved an Antonov AN-74TK-300D plane operated by the air force — but did not give any information about the passengers or any casualties.
"The authorities concerned are now helping to rescue the survivors," it said in a brief English-language report.
"The cause of accident is under investigation."
Lt Gen Douangchay is a top military leader in Laos who is a familiar figure to Thailand as he was in charge of border affairs and the repatriation of Hmong refugees from Thailand to Laos.
The Thai Defence Ministry expressed condolences for the death of Lt Gen Douangchay and will dispatch defence permanent secretary Gen Niphat Thonglek to attend the funeral ceremony in Laos.
The crash was the second in Laos in less than a year.
In October last year, a Lao Airlines ATR-72 turboprop crashed into the Mekong River during a heavy storm as it approached Pakse Airport in Champassak province, killing all 49 people on board. Lt Gen Douangchay played a key role in searching the crash site in the southern province.
Laos has had 30 fatal air accidents since the 1950s, according to the Aviation Safety Network.
A picture made available on Saturday shows a Russian-made Antonov AN74TK-300D aircraft belonging to the Lao Air Force on the tarmac of an airbase in Pakse in December last year. (EPA photo)