The statement said the plane ran into “extreme bad weather conditions” as it attempted to land in Pakse, a popular destination with tourists who visit the coffee plantations of the Bolaven Plateau and the former royal principality of Champasak.

Image Credit... The New York Times

A representative for the airline who answered the phone in Vientiane said the aircraft was an ATR, a French-made turboprop commonly used in the region to serve small airports.

“There was turbulent weather during the flight,” said the woman, who refused to give her name. She said the airline would provide more information Thursday afternoon.

Laos, impoverished and landlocked, is governed by a secretive and insular Communist party. Calls to government offices and police stations were not answered late Wednesday. The statement about the crash was posted on the Facebook page of Lao Airlines.

Vachirapong Boonkrajang, the head of a voluntary Thai rescue organization in Ubon Ratchathani, a province in Thailand along the Laotian border, told a Thai television channel that he would send a team of divers to recover bodies on Thursday.