YANGON : Pieces of a Myanmar military plane which went missing with 120 soldiers and family members aboard were found in the Andaman Sea late Wednesday, a local official said.
Navy ships and aircraft had been searching since the afternoon when the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers.
More than a dozen children were believed to be among the passengers on the plane travelling from the southern city of Myeik to Yangon.
"Now they have found pieces of the damaged plane in the sea 136 miles (218 km) away from Dawei city," said Naing Lin Zaw, a tourism official in Myeik, adding the navy was still searching the sea.
An air force source confirmed to AFP that a navy search and rescue ship had found pieces of the plane in the sea an hour's flight south of Yangon, Myanmar's commercial capital.
The commander in chief's office said the plane lost contact at about 1:35 pm (07:05 GMT) off Myanmar's southern coast.
There was conflicting information about the number of people on board.
Giving an updated figure, the office said 106 passengers were on board - soldiers and family members - along with 14 crew.
The Chinese-made Y-8-200F transport plane left the coastal town of Myeik at 1:06 p.m (0636 GMT) heading north to Myanmar's largest city of Yangon on a regular weekly flight that visits several coastal towns, officials said.
The plane lost contact 29 minutes after take off while flying at 18,000 feet over the Andaman Sea, about 43 miles (70 km) west of the town of Dawei, the military said.
"We don't know what exactly happened to this plane after the loss of contact," said Kyaw Kyaw Htey, a civil aviation official at Myeik airport.
Civil aviation authorities initially said there were 105 people onboard. The military later said those on board included 106 soldiers and family members and 14 aircraft staff. The maximum capacity of the aircraft is 200 people, said a military officer.
Kyaw Kyaw Htey said the weather had been "normal" with good visibility when the plane took off.
The military launched the search soon after the plane went missing, mobilising six navy ships and three military planes.
The search went on as darkness fell.
The plane was bought in March 2016 and had a total of 809 flying hours. It was carrying 2.4 tons of supplies, the military said.
