61 dead, 40 missing in Thai plane crash - governor

BANGKOK, Sep 16 (Reuters) Sixty-one people are confirmed dead and another 40 are missing after a budget airliner crashed on the Thai resort of Phuket in driving rain today, the island's governor said.

The flight from Bangkok was carrying 123 passengers and five crew, airport officials said. Around half of the passengers were foreign holidaymakers, most of them European.

REUTERS SYU PM1755