A plane carrying several senior Laotian government officials crashed Saturday morning, killing at least 3 people, a Laotian diplomat, quoted by The New York Times said.

Killed in the crash were the deputy prime minister, Douangchay Phichit, and the governor of Vientiane province.

Douangchay was also defense minister and a member of the Politburo, the highest decision-making body of the ruling Communist party.

According to other media reports, in the crash were killed at least 22 people. The figure, however, is unconfirmed.

The plane was traveling from the capital, Vientiane, to the mountainous northeastern province of Xiangkhouang, where the officials were due to attend an official ceremony.

State television in Laos showed footage of rescue workers recovering debris from the aircraft, which appeared to have crashed in a jungle-covered area.

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