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Plane crash, 25 onboard

RCMP say a plane with 25 people on board has crashed in northern Saskatchewan.

Police say the plane crashed shortly after taking off around 6:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Fond du Lac airport.

Mounties said the aircraft went down about one kilometre from the airstrip.

Emergency first responders helped the 22 passengers and three crew members. One of the passengers is an infant.

"With that many people on a plane, there are injuries," Staff Sgt. Rob Embree said at RCMP headquarters in Regina.

"Right now, that's what we're focusing on so basically it's a rescue effort happening at this time."

There were no reports of fatalities.

Rick Philipenko, a spokesman for Saskatoon-based West Wind Aviation, confirmed it was one of the company's planes that crashed, a two-engine ATR 42 turbo prop.

The plane was en route to Stony Rapids on a regularly scheduled flight when it crashed.

"The primary concern for us right now is making sure that the passengers and crew are looked after," he said.

A picture of the crash site posted on social media shows the damaged aircraft partly on its side in the trees with a wing jutting up in the air at a 45-degree angle as people search the plane.

The Transportation Safety Board said a team of investigators will arrive in Fond du Lac Thursday.

Fond du Lac is a remote mainly Dene community located on the east side of Lake Athabasca.



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