Bangkok Airways Plane Crashes on Koh Samui Island, 1 Dead

Bangkok - A pilot died and at least seven passengers were injured when a commercial plane slid off a runway into a disused control tower on the Thai tourist island of Koh Samui Yesterday, police and aviation officials said.

The Bangkok Airways plane flying from the southern Thai resort of Krabi left the runway while landing in heavy rain.

"The pilot was killed when the plane hit the unmanned control tower," Kanika Kaemawuttanont, director-general of the Department of Aviation, told Reuters.

Hospital staff said two British and two Dutch tourists were among those hurt but none was seriously injured. The plane was carrying 68 passengers and four crew.

Television footage showed minor damage to the front of the ATR-72 twin turboprop plane.

Koh Samui, 700 km south of Bangkok, is Thailand's third-big-gest island and one of the country's most continuously popular holiday destinations.

Sourced = The Cambodia Daily