At least seven French citizens were among those passengers killed when a Lao Airlines plane crashed in the Mekong River Wednesday, local media quoted French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius as saying.

Fabius has extended "deep shock and great sadness" over the deaths.

A Lao Airlines airplane crashed into the Mekong River at around 4:00 p.m. local time (09:00 GMT) during a flight from Vientiane to Champassak.

A source from the aeronautical services who prefer to be anonymous confirmed to Xinhua that the flight QV301, an ART twin-turbo aircraft, was carrying 40 passengers when it crashed.

The plane took off from Vientiane at 2:50 p.m. local time and was due to arrive at 4:00 p.m. local time, crashing into the Mekong shortly before attempting a landing in bad weather.

Xinhua reporters have learned from various sources that the plane was also carrying two Chinese passengers.