Nearly 200 feared dead in Taiwanese plane crash
     TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Feb 16, 1998 12:08 p.m. EST -- All passengers
 and crew were feared dead after a Taiwanese airliner crashed while
 trying to land at Taipei's international airport, hitting a resi-
 dential area and exploding in a fireball.
     The deputy director-general of the Civil Aeronautics Administra-
 tion, Chang Kuo-cheng, said the plane carried 182 passengers and 15
 crew members and that no survivors had so far been found.
     "Judging from the scene there is little chance of there being
 any survivors," another official at Chiang Kai-shek airport said.
     Casualties on the ground included a 28-year-old woman and 2-
 month-old infant killed when the plane skidded into houses and cars
 after crashing, state television reported.
     The China Airlines Airbus A-300, on return from Bali, crashed
 while on a second approach at 8:09 p.m. at the airport's northern
 runway, China Airlines said.
     The passengers on board the airliner reportedly included Sheu
 Yuan-dong, governor of Taiwan's Central Bank, his wife, and four
 other finance officials returning from a conference in Bali. The
 officials included Chen Huang, head of the bank's Department of
 Foreign Exchange, and Chien Chi-min, head of the Department of
 Economic Research.
     Most of the passengers were believed to be Taiwanese.
     Heavy fog was reported around the airport throughout the after-
 noon and evening, and a light rain was falling at the time of the
 crash.
     Witnesses said the jet hit at least three residential buildings
 near the airport.
     "The plane first crashed into a civilian building," a witness
 told a live television broadcast from the airport. "Several people
 were injured and taken to the hospital."
     Earlier, a child was pulled alive from the wreckage area but
 later died.
 Update later
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