RantCrush Top 5: June 8, 2017

Yesterday, a military airplane carrying 108 passengers and 14 crew members disappeared over the Andaman Sea off of Myanmar. This morning, pieces of wreckage and several bodies were found. The plane was heading from the coastal town of Myeik toward the capital, Rangoon, when it disappeared from the radar. So far, 29 bodies have been recovered, the military said. It did not specify what could have caused the crash and weather conditions were “normal” at the time of takeoff. Although it was a military plane, it carried several civilians, including 15 children, as is normal practice in Myanmar to bring down costs. The plane had been delivered from China only a little over a year ago and the pilot and co-pilot had over 3,100 hours of flying experience. The crash happened 440 miles away from where the Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared three years ago.

This is a wheel of the Burmese army plane that crashed yesterday. Sadly there are gory pictures of bodies on social media. pic.twitter.com/GBia5ELCh1

— Jonah Fisher (@JonahFisherBBC) June 8, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.