The Sydney Morning Herald also said that Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou and Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed condolences and 'deep grief' with regard to the incident.
Firefighters and other emergency personnel are reportedly still attempting to rescue those on board.
Hsi Wen-guang, a spokesman for the local fire department said, 'It was thunderstorm conditions during the crash. From the crash site we sent 11 people to hospital with injuries. A few empty apartment buildings adjacent to the runway caught fire, but no-one was inside at the time and the fire was extinguished.'
According to the BBC, Taiwan was hit early Wednesday by strong winds and rain from tropical storm, Typhoon Matmo.
Despite this, a Civil Aeronautics Administration official told Reuters that bad weather during the TransAsia Airways crash did not exceed international regulations for landing.
The SMH reports that Taiwan had shut its financial markets and schools in two days before Typhoon Matmo hit. The storm had already passed the island and is currently heading into China at the time of the crash.
TransAsia Airways crash had tributes flowing for its victims. The airlines is a 63-year-old private company which flights mainly include Taiwan with routes to China, Japan and Southeast Asia. According to reports, it flies a dozen Airbus jets and 10 turboprops from French-Italian manufacturer ATR.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
