More than 100 rescuers, including firefighters and soldiers, worked to remove bodies and scattered debris from the site flight ATR 72-500 which was carrying 54 passengers and four crew members when it plunged into eight houses in Magong.

A crane was also brought in to lift the plane wreckage. Most of the bodies had been removed from the crash site, officials said, where a religious ceremony was held to appease the spirits of the victims.