20 Crazy Facts About The World’s Most Incredible Burial Sites

The following excerpts are from his newest book, titled Memento Mori: The Dead Among Us, which takes readers to the most macabre sites in the world.

1. Lampa, Peru

Paul Koudounaris

One of the most stunning displays of death is in the village of Lampa, Peru. A local nobleman who traced his lineage to the Spanish settlers who founded the town as a mining village petitioned the local church for permission to exhume their bones and use them to decorate his own tomb. The result: A deep silo with walls covered in skeletons maybe seem medieval in sentiment, but in fact was not constructed until the second half of the 20th century.

2. Waldsassen, Germany

Paul Koudounaris

The ultimate treatment for human remains is bejeweling the entire skeleton. This was popular during the 17th and 18th centuries in parts of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and remains of people thought to be holy would be treated in this way. This particular skeleton, in Waldsassen, Germany, was discovered in the Roman catacombs and believed to be that of a martyr — he was sent to Germany, covered in jewels, and set into an altar to inspire faith.

3. Sedlec Ossuary, Czech Republic

Paul Koudounaris

The most famous of the charnel houses is at Sedlec, near Kutna Hora, in the Czech Republic. Often called “The Bone Church,” it was a funerary chapel that was once part of a monastic property, and decorated entirely with bones from the local cemetery. Among its highlights are an 8-foot-wide chandelier, said to be composed with one of every bone in the human body.

4. Bangkok, Thailand

Paul Koudounaris

Some cultures decorate the bones themselves. This unusual display of golden skulls with golden cushions in their eye sockets is found at a charitable foundation in Bangkok, Thailand. The caters to the needs of poor people who cannot afford the costs of a funeral, and these skulls are the first dozen clients — preserved, gilded, and given a place of honor.

5. Rome, Italy

Paul Koudounaris

Mummies were also sometimes included in Italian charnel houses (church bone rooms). Up until the 19th century, most burials took place in churchyards, and when these cemetery areas were full, old burials would be removed to make space, and the bones stored. This display is found under the Capuchin monastery of Santa Maria della Concezione in Rome, a multiroom crypt that combined architectural elements replicated in human bone with the mummified bodies of monks who had died in the monastery.

6. Opdas Burial Cave, The Philippines

Paul Koudounaris

Many other cultures have similar traditions for displaying the dead, especially in Asia, where burial caves were used to store large quantities of human bones. The Opdas Cave on central Luzon is the largest such cave in the Philippines, housing the remains of thousands of people. It was discovered when a local man believed he heard mysterious voices; he began to dig, and it turned out this burial cave was under his property.

7. Lombok Village, Indonesia

Paul Koudounaris

The most picturesque of all the Asian burial caves is found outside the village of Lombok, again on the island of Sulawesi. The center part of the cave features skulls set upon moss-covered rocks, and the surrounding area is covered in broken coffins filled with the bones of several generations of village residents.

8. Brno, Czech Republic

Paul Koudounaris

Mummies are also found under the Capuchin monastery in Brno, Czech Republic. These mummies were all brothers from the monastery and some date as far back as the 17th century. The monastery owned only one coffin, and it had a false bottom — the deceased would be carried away to a drying room and then released from the coffin, which would then be saved for the next funeral.

9. Palermo, Sicily

Paul Koudounaris

The largest collection of these mummies is in the crypt of the Capuchin monastery in Palermo, where over a thousand are preserved, making it the largest collection of mummified remains in the world. Known now as the Palermo Catacombs, the mazelike crypt contained different sections for different classes of people, including mummified infants and virgins. At one time there were four functioning altars for religious services set among the mummies.

10. Kolin, Czech Republic

Paul Koudounaris

There are many other highly elaborate church bone houses that are not famous, however. This one, at Kolín also in the Czech Republic, was constructed in the 18th century inside of a large, pyramid-shaped structure. It features a life-size crucifix against one of its impressive walls of bones.

11. Mount Abuna Yosef, Ethiopia

Paul Koudounaris

A mountain cave behind the church of Yemrehanna Kristos in Ethiopia is one of the world’s largest bone fields. For centuries, people came here to die, under the belief that the relics of a legendary king were present, and to die near them was to die in a blessed state. The back section of the cave is a sea of human body parts, piled high on top of one another.

12. Burgio, Sicily

Paul Koudounaris

Sitting upright in a coffin, this deteriorated mummy is one of several dozen found in the Capuchin monastery in Burgio, Sicily. It was common in Sicily through the 19th century to mummify your relatives and put them on display in the crypts of local churches. Such displays were signs of love and respect, and the living family members would visit the dead each year on All Souls’ Day.

13. Gangi, Sicily

Paul Koudounaris

Another large collection of Sicilian mummies is found in Gangi. Underneath the town’s oldest and largest church, former ecclesiastic staff were dehydrated and placed in niches, still wearing their vestments. Experiments carried out to treat their faces with wax in order to better preserve their likenesses only made the effect of the display more macabre when the wax slowly deteriorated.

14. Oria, Italy

Paul Koudounaris

These collections of mummies were not found solely in Sicily. In a crypt under the cathedral in Oria in Southern Italy, a entire mummified Confraternity of Death is preserved. During their lives, the members of this brotherhood performed charitable functions, in particular funerals for impoverished people. When the brothers themselves died, they were preserved and put on display.

15. Bua, Indonesia

Paul Koudounaris

A large burial cave complex is found on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, outside of the village of Bua, and contains several different chambers containing human bones. Funerals in this part of the island are large and extravagant affairs, and afterward the body is placed in a coffin and taken to a local cave. Over time, the wood rots away and the bones are exposed, to later be picked up and arranged by visitors.

16. Kete Kesu, Indonesia

Paul Koudounaris

Also on Sulawesi, large piles of human bones are found near the village of Kete Kesu. Here, they are not in a cave, but rather stacked along a mountain path leading to a cave mouth. Coffins are placed on wooden slats, and when they eventually deteriorate, the bones fall to the ground in heaps.

17. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Paul Koudounaris

The western part of South America is pockmarked with ancient necropoli, many featuring deteriorated mummies that are still in situ. This one is outside of the world’s largest salt flat at Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. Some of these South American mummies are up to 1,500 years old.

18. La Paz, Bolivia

Paul Koudounaris

The tradition of preserving human remains still exists in some parts of South America, particularly in Bolivia where skulls known asñatitas are kept in some homes, particularly in La Paz. The souls attached to these skulls act as friends, helpers, servants, and guardians. They are kept in shrines, and various materials may be used to give them faux eyes, noses, and mouths.

19. La Paz, Bolivia

Paul Koudounaris

These skulls are not always confined to the home, however. Once a year, on Nov. 8, they’re taken by their owners to the chapel of La Paz’s Cemetery General. They attend a mass, and a giant celebration, the Fiesta de las Ñatitas, is held in their honor.

20. Hallstatt, Austria

Paul Koudounaris

Painted skulls like these were once common in small church parishes of in the German-speaking Alps, although now the only sizeable display is found in Hallstatt, Austria, where nearly 600 are preserved. The name of the deceased and date of death would be recorded on the forehead, often surrounded by flowers, crosses, and other decorative designs. The artists were usually the local gravediggers.

ANDRÉS SARDÁ: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid Full Show Fall Winter 20...

Hardly Ever Seen: The Alien-Looking Megamouth Shark Washes Ashore in the Philippines.

Posted By: adminon: February 08, 2015In: International, Videos

The rare and rather strange-looking Megamouth Shark (Megachasma pelagios) was discovered in 1979 when one was hauled out of the ocean by a US Navy vessel. Before this time, scientists could not even confirm they existed. They live in the very depths of the sea and are rarely seen by the human eye. This one, however, somehow washed ashore on Pioduran, Albay, in the Philippines.

These round headed creatures with an unbelievable 50 rows of tiny sharp teeth have so far been seen 15 times in the Philippines, and a number of times in Japan as well. But overall they have only ever been spotted about 66 times in the world. this is amazing when you watch video below

Villagers used a stretcher and iron rods to carry the rare 15-foot (4.5-m) Megamouth shark

The US Navy vessel accidentally dragged up the first megamouth shark discovered in 1976.
The creature was nicknamed &Toothless because it looked like the nightfury in How to Train Your Dragon
Last June 2014, a fisherman caught a megamouth shark in the shore of Barangay Cugman in Cagayan de Oro City.
The Fisher man Claimed the animal died while struggling in net,but was already weak at the time.
Here’s a video of a Megamouth shark found in Japan

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Launch Set for Satellite to Monitor Solar Storms

Δημοσιεύτηκε στις 7 Φεβ 2015

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is due to launch a new solar weather observing satellite into deep space on Sunday, which scientists hope will give better notice of advancing solar storms. (Feb. 7)

Jordanian Airstrikes Against An ISIS Storage And Staging Facility

Δημοσιεύτηκε στις 6 Φεβ 2015

Airstrike against an ISIS Storage and Staging facility, Feb. 5, near Al Hasakah, Syria. The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIS terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations. 

Mummified monk in Mongolia 'not dead', say Buddhists

The monk was found wrapped in traditional Buddhist robes

Continue reading the main story

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A mummified monk found preserved in Mongolia last week has been baffling and astounding those who uncovered him.

Senior Buddhists say the monk, found sitting in the lotus position, is in a deep meditative trance and not dead.

Forensic examinations are under way on the remains, found wrapped in cattle skins in north-central Mongolia.

Scientists have yet to determine how the monk is so well preserved, though some think Mongolia's cold weather could be the reason.

But Dr Barry Kerzin, a physician to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama,told the Siberian Times that the monk was in a rare state of meditation called "tukdam".

"If the meditator can continue to stay in this meditative state, he can become a Buddha," Dr Kerzin said.

The monk was discovered after being stolen by a man hoping to sell him on the black market.

Mongolian police have arrested the culprit and the monk is now being guarded at the National Centre of Forensic Expertise.

Worship for eternity

The monk was found as he was about to be sold on the black market

The identity of the monk is unclear, though there is speculation that he is the teacher of Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, who was also found mummified.

In 1927, Itigilov - from neighbouring Buryatia in the then Soviet Union - supposedly told his students he was going to die and that they should exhume his body in 30 years.

The lama sat in the lotus position, began meditating and died.

When he was dug up, legend has it that his body was still preserved.

Fearing interference by the Soviet authorities, his followers reburied him and he remained at rest until 2002 when he was again dug up to great fanfare and found still well preserved.

The lama was then placed in a Buddhist temple to be worshipped for eternity.

Κυρήνη , Λιβύη--Cyrene, Libya

Cyrene, Libya

 ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ

The Greek colonizations of Crete and Rhodes of the 9th century BC were shortly followed by their colonizations of Cyrenaica in Eastern Libya. The city of Cyrene was a Greek colony, built in the seventh century BC (631 BC) upon the oracle advice of Delphi, on one of the best verdant regions of Eastern Libya's Green Mountain, by immigrants (or refugees according to some sources) from the island of Thera (Santhorini). However, there was also a failed attempt to colonise Tripolitania under the command of Dorieus, the king of Sparta, who reached the River Cinyps (Wadi Caam), just east of Leptis Magna, in 520 BC and founded a city by that name. 

 Ancient marble floor

The prosperity of Cyrene was founded on the silphium plant, pictured on Cyrenaican coins, where it resembles a stylised leek or a sunflower. The plant once grew only in Libya and apparently its extinction was a grievous blow to the city's economy. 

History 

Cyrene was founded in 630 BC as a settlement of Greeks from the Greek island of Thera (Santorini), traditionally led by Battus I, at a site ten miles from its associated port, Apollonia (Marsa Sousa). Traditional details concerning the founding of the city are contained in Herodotus' Histories IV. Cyrene promptly became the chief town of ancient Libya and established commercial relations with all the Greek cities, reaching the height of its prosperity under its own kings in the 5th century BC. Soon after 460 BC it became a republic. In 413 BC, during the Peloponnesian War, Cyrene supplied Spartan forces with two triremes and pilots. After the death of Alexander the Great of Macedon (323 BC), the Cyrenian republic became subject to the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Ophelas, the general who occupied the city in Ptolemy I's name, ruled the city almost independently until his death, when Ptolemy's son-in-law Magas received governorship of the territory. In 276 BC Magas crowned himself king and declared de facto independence, marrying the daughter of the Seleucid king and forming with him an alliance in order to invade Egypt. The invasion was unsuccessful and in 250 BC, after Magas' death, the city was reabsorbed into Ptolemaic Egypt. Cyrenaica became part of the Ptolemaic empire controlled from Alexandria, and became Roman territory in 96 BC when Ptolemy Apion bequeathed Cyrenaica to Rome. In 74 BC the territory was formally transformed into a Roman province.

The inhabitants of Cyrene at the time of Sulla (c. 85 BC) were divided into four classes: citizens, farmers, resident aliens, and a minority population of Jews. The ruler of the town, Apion, bequeathed it to the Romans, but it kept its self-government. In 74 BC Cyrene was created a Roman province; but, whereas under the Ptolemies the Jewish inhabitants had enjoyed equal rights, they now found themselves increasingly oppressed by the now autonomous and much larger Greek population. Tensions came to a head in the insurrection of the Jews of Cyrene under Vespasian (73 AD, the First Roman-Jewish War) and especially Trajan (117 AD, the Kitos War). This revolt was quelled by Marcius Turbo, but not before huge numbers of people had been killed. According to Eusebius of Caesarea the outbreak of violence left Libya depopulated to such an extent that a few years later new colonies had to be established there by the emperor Hadrian just to maintain the viability of continued settlement.

Plutarch in his work De mulierum virtutibus ("On the Virtues of Women") describes how the tyrant of Cyrene, Nicocrates, was deposed by his wife Aretaphila of Cyrene around the year 50 BC
The famous "Venus of Cyrene", a headless marble statue representing the goddess Venus, a Roman copy of a Greek original, was discovered by Italian soldiers here in 1913. It was transported to Rome, where it remained until 2008, when it was returned to Libya. A large number of Roman sculptures and inscriptions were excavated at Cyrene by Captain Robert Murdoch Smith and Commander Edwin A. Porcher during the mid nineteenth century and can now be seen in the British Museum. They include the Apollo of Cyrene and a unique bronze head of an African man.

Description

A colony of the Greeks of Thera, Cyrene was one of the principal cities in the Hellenic world. It was Romanized and remained a great capital until the earthquake of AD 365. A thousand years of history is written into its ruins, which have been famous since the 18th century.

Cyrene was founded in the 4th century BC by Greeks of Thera (Santorini) guided by Battos, within a zone where Carthaginian influence was preponderant. From 631 BC (the traditional accepted date of its foundation) to 440 BC, this trading centre, situated in the interior, away from the sea, was dominated by the dynasty of the Battiadae. Within little less than a century (430-331), this kingdom was succeeded by a democratic regime; following which the city spontaneously submitted itself to the rule of Alexander the Great and, at his death, was annexed to the kingdom of the Lagids. One of the last of the line of descendants of Berenice and Ptolemy III Euergetes bequeathed it to the Roman people in 96 BC.

Entrance of Temple to Apollo

Established as a Roman province in 74 BC, Cyrenaica shared in the fortunes of the empire and, as such, never ceased to play a preponderant role in the Mediterranean world: it was given by Mark Anthony to Cleopatra, united with Crete by Augustus, who decreed the date of the battle of Actium (34 BC) as the beginning of a new era, and then separated from Crete by Diocletian in a reform of 305, which united it with Egypt. Its capitol, which was reconstructed in the 1st century AD and damaged during the insurrection of the Jews in 116, was entirely rebuilt from the reign of Hadrian. Its decline did not begin until the earthquake and tidal wave of 365, one of the great catastrophes of history. Ammianus Marcelinus found it deserted.

Cyrene, which was described by geographers from Herodotus to Synesius and had its praises sung by Pindar and Callimachus, is not only one of the cities of the Mediterranean world around which myths, legends and stories have been woven over more than 1,000 years, but it is also one of the most impressive complexes of ruins in the entire world.

To the north, the sanctuary and sacred fountain of Apollo, the fountain celebrated by Pindar, Herodotus and Callimachus, regroups the temples of Apollo (7th-4th centuries BC) and Artemis (7th-6th centuries BC), the sacella of Persephone, Hades and Hecate, votive monuments and treasuries. This cultic zone was completed, during the Roman period, by extremely large buildings of which the most important are the Baths of Trajan, restored in the 2nd century. To the west, the Greek theatre was transformed into an amphitheatre by the Romans. To the south-west, the Acropolis constitutes an immense archaeological reserve, whose exploration has been postponed for some time owing to the strategic nature of the site.

 

To the south-east, about 500 m from the sanctuary of Apollo, the agora and the Roman forum, which are well preserved, formed the centre of the civic life. This sector is characterized by the coexistence of both Greek and Roman forms of urban planning within a unified whole of very ample proportions: the Bouleuterion and Capitolium, Agora and Forum, Nomophylakion (public archives depository), and similar are placed side by side with Heroa, of which the best known is that of Battus. It is the urban centre of the ideal city; proud of its past, conscious of the continuity of its history and turned towards the future. The archaeological site of Cyrene is not limited to these three monumental complexes of the sanctuary of Apollo, the Acropolis and the Agora. Excavations have revealed the great interest of the north-eastern sector, where the grandiose ruins of the Augustan period were inhabited until the end of Cyrenian history.

Elsewhere, Cyrene preserves a necropolis complex which is numbered among the most extensive and varied of the ancient world.

Site Monuments 

Ancient forum

 Ruins of ancient theatre in Cyrene, Libya

 Ruins in Cyrene

 Agora walls

Agora of Cyrene

 

 Ginnasio Propilei

Temple to Apollo

Burial chambers, Necropolis

 The temple of Zeus

The Temple of Demeter

Coast Guard Rescues Dog From Icy Water

Δημοσιεύτηκε στις 4 Φεβ 2015

A Coast Guard Station Frankfort crew rescues a dog from the ice-filled channel in Frankfort, Mich., Feb. 3, 2015. Crews are prepared to save lives no matter who they belong to. U.S. Coast Guard video courtesy of Oliver Art Center. Courtesy Video | U.S. Coast Guard District 9 | Date: 02.03.2015

ΟΙ 10 ΠΙΟ ΥΣΧΥΡΟΤΕΡΟΙ ΣΤΡΑΤΟΙ ΣΤΟΝ ΚΟΣΜΟ!

Οι 10 πιο ισχυρότερους στρατούς στον κόσμο

Δημοσιεύθηκε: 3 Φεβ, 2015 17:30 GMT | Τελευταία ενημέρωση: 3, Φεβρουαρίου, 2015 19:02 GMT

REUTERS / Σαμ Hodgson

Ο δικτυακός τόπος παγκόσμια δύναμη πυρός εισήγαγε ένα νέο «κατάταξης» των χωρών με στρατιωτική δύναμη. Οι συγγραφείς της μελέτης έχουν περιληφθεί στον κατάλογο τους συνολικά 106 μέλη. Μάθετε ποιες είναι οι 10 πιο ισχυρότερους στρατούς στον κόσμο.

Οι συγγραφείς χρησιμοποιούν τη λεγόμενη «Global Index δύναμη πυρός» («συνολικό ποσοστό της δύναμης πυρός»), η οποία έχει γίνει με βάση διαφορετικά δεδομένα σχετικά με τις στρατιές των διαφόρων χωρών . Ο κατάλογος  λαμβάνει υπόψη τις γεωγραφικές και επιχειρηματικούς παράγοντες και τιμωρεί τις περίκλειστες χώρες που δεν διαθέτουν στόλο, αλλά δεν μετρούν την πυρηνική ικανότητα. Γενικά, είναι μια πιο ποσοτική παρά ποιοτική λίστα. Η GFP θεωρεί ότι το εργατικό δυναμικό (σύνολο και είναι κατάλληλο για τον πληθυσμό των υπηρεσιών), τα όπλα του στρατού, της αεροπορίας και ναυτική δύναμη, μεταξύ άλλων παραγόντων.Οι τρεις πρώτες θέσεις, σύμφωνα με τα στοιχεία από τον Ιανουάριο του 2015, οι ΗΠΑ, η Ρωσία και η Κίνα καταλαμβάνουν. Και οι 10 πρώτες στρατιωτικές δυνάμεις, κατά σειρά σπουδαιότητας, είναι οι εξής:

1. ΗΠΑ

Δείκτης Ισχύς: 0,2208

Άμυνας Προϋπολογισμός: 612 500 000 000 δολάρια

Στρατιωτικό εργατικό δυναμικό: 120022084

Αριθμός των δεξαμενών: 8325

Αριθμός αεροσκαφών: 13683

Σύνολο Ναυτική Δύναμη: 473

2. Ρωσία

Reuters / ΣΕΡΓΚΕΪ Karpukhin

Δείκτης Ισχύς: 0,2355

Άμυνας Προϋπολογισμός: 76,6 δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια

Στρατιωτικό εργατικό δυναμικό: 46812553

Αριθμός των δεξαμενών: 15.500

Αριθμός αεροσκαφών: 3,082

Σύνολο Ναυτική Δύναμη: 352

3. Κίνα

Δείκτης Ισχύς: 0,2594

Άμυνας Προϋπολογισμός: 126 δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια

Στρατιωτικό εργατικό δυναμικό: 618588627

Αριθμός των δεξαμενών: 9.150

Αριθμός αεροσκαφών: 2.788

Σύνολο Ναυτική Δύναμη: 520

4. Ινδία

REUTERS / Jayanta Dey

Δείκτης Ισχύς: 0,3872

Άμυνας Προϋπολογισμός: 46 δισ δολάρια

Στρατιωτικό εργατικό δυναμικό: 489571520

Αριθμός των δεξαμενών: 3.569

Αριθμός αεροσκαφών: 1,785

Σύνολο Ναυτική Δύναμη: 184

5. Το Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο

Δείκτης Ισχύς: 0,3923

Άμυνας Προϋπολογισμός: 53,6 δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια

Στρατιωτικό εργατικό δυναμικό: 24035131

Αριθμός των δεξαμενών: 407

Αριθμός αεροσκαφών: 908

Σύνολο Ναυτική Δύναμη: 66

6. Γαλλία

AFP / ALAIN Jocard

Δείκτης Ισχύς: 0,4706

Άμυνας Προϋπολογισμός: 43 δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια

Στρατιωτικό εργατικό δυναμικό: 23747168

Αριθμός των δεξαμενών: 423

Αριθμός αεροσκαφών: 1,203

Σύνολο Ναυτική Δύναμη: 120

7. Γερμανία

Δείκτης Ισχύς: 0,4899

Άμυνας Προϋπολογισμός: 45 δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια

Στρατιωτικό εργατικό δυναμικό: 29538413

Αριθμός των δεξαμενών: 408

Αριθμός αεροσκαφών: 710

Σύνολο Ναυτική Δύναμη: 82

8. Τουρκία

REUTERS / Osman Orsal

Δείκτης Ισχύς: 0,5171

Άμυνα προϋπολογισμός: 18.190 εκατομμύρια δολάρια

Στρατιωτικό εργατικό δυναμικό: 35005326

Αριθμός των δεξαμενών: 3.657

Αριθμός αεροσκαφών: 989

Σύνολο Ναυτική Δύναμη: 115

9. Νότια Κορέα

Δείκτης Ισχύς: 0,5536

Άμυνας Προϋπολογισμός: 33,7 δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια

Στρατιωτικό εργατικό δυναμικό: 21033275

Αριθμός των δεξαμενών: 2,346

Αριθμός αεροσκαφών: 1,393

Σύνολο Ναυτική Δύναμη: 166

10. Ιαπωνία

REUTERS / Yuriko Nakao

Δείκτης Ισχύς: 0,5581

Άμυνας Προϋπολογισμός: 49,1 δισεκατομμυρίων δολαρίων

Στρατιωτικό εργατικό δυναμικό: 43930753

Αριθμός των δεξαμενών: 767

Αριθμός αεροσκαφών: 1,595

Σύνολο Ναυτική Δύναμη: 131

Dashcams capture dramatic footage of Taiwanese plane crash

Taiwanese drivers reportedly captured the moments before TransAsia flight GE235 crashed into a river near the country's capital city of Taipei today. The unverified footage appears to show the plane, a turboprop ATR-72, rolling to the left as it descends over a road.

Apple Daily said the plane carried 58 — five crew and 53 passengers — but TransAsia spokesperson Frankie Fang was unable to confirm the number of people on board. Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council confirmed that there had been a plane crash at around 10:45 AM local time. The Taiwanese authority confirmed that two people had died in the crash, but a number of sources report that 12 people are dead. China's Xinhua News said that 27 people were rushed to hospital after being rescued from the plane's fuselage

Unverified footage of the plane, in which its wing appears to strike a car traveling along the raised expressway, was tweeted by Twitter user Missxoxo168. Pictures attributed to Taiwan's TVBS appear to show a taxi cab on the same stretch of road with extensive damage that could have been caused by collision with the plane's wing.

Live footage from the scene of the crash shows a number of rescue workers making efforts to extract passengers from the stricken plane, some three hours after the country's aviation authority said the crash took place. Pictures taken by journalist Tim Culpan on location show most of the plane submerged in water, with rescue workers using inflatable boats to reach the fuselage. The Taipei city government has established a disaster response center to deal with the aftermath of the crash.

This is the second TransAsia ATR-72 turboprop plane to crash in Taiwan in six months. Last July, 48 people were killed when TransAsia flight 222 crashed in Penghu, off the coast of Taiwan, after it failed to make a second landing during typhoon conditions. The two fatal crashes are a blow to the Taiwanese aviation industry, which worked to make changes to its safety record after a series of high-profile crashes in the 1990s and 2000s. Prior to July's incident, the last fatal plane crash on the island occurred in May 2002, when a China Airlines 747 broke up in the air during a flight from Taipei to Hong Kong.

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