Fifty-eight people were onboard the domestic flight, and a number of people were reportedly injured.

Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) broadcast footage of the plane almost submerged in the Keelung river.

Rescue teams are alongside the plane trying to rescue about 30 people still trapped inside.

The ATR-72 had just taken off from Taipei Songshan Airport and was headed to the outlying Kinmen islands, just off the coast of south-east China, CNA said.

Flight controllers lost contact with the plane at 10:55 local time (02:55 GMT).

Footage of the plane apparently filmed from inside passing cars showed it banking sharply and clipping the bridge before crashing into the river.