Bags removed from sunken seaplane

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has completed the operation to remove the bags from the Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA) seaplane which crashed in to the sea on Thursday evening.

The aircraft, carrying 11 tourists and three crew members, crash landed on emergency about two miles off Kuredu Resort in Lhaviyani Atoll.

Sources have told Sun Online that 31 bags have been removed from the aircraft.

In addition to the bags, items removed from the water included cameras, phones, and iPads.

Most items were damaged by the salt water.

Ropes have been tied to the fuselage, which lies on the sea bed 38 meters below the surface, but efforts have not begun to pull it out of the water.

The fuselage was still afloat when a speedboat of Kuredu Resort arrived at the scene minutes after the accident, but all parts except for the two floats sank soon afterwards.

All 11 passengers and three crew members were rescued unharmed.

Investigations are ongoing by TMA and relevant authorities to determine the cause of the accident.