LEAD: Minister says all 22 aboard crashed plane in Cambodia perished

(EDS: UPDATING WITH REPORT ALL ABOARD ARE DEAD)

Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told Kyodo News on Wednesday that all 22 passengers and crew aboard a Russian-owned plane that crashed in a heavily wooded mountainous region of southwestern Cambodia on Monday have been confirmed dead.

The minister, who is also the government spokesman, said he was told that none among the plane's Russian pilot, five Cambodian crew members and 13 South Korean and three Czech passengers had survived.

Earlier, a senior government source who asked not to be named told Kyodo News he had received information from the crash site, discovered Wednesday morning after two days of intense searching in Kampot Province, that there were no survivors.

Khoy Khun Hour, Kompot deputy governor, said the crash site is on a hillside between the Bokor and Damrey Mountains.

''From the above view, the plane was broken into pieces,'' he told reporters Wednesday morning.

Seven helicopters had been assigned to the search for the crash site in Kampot, about 150 kilometers southwest of Phnom Penh, and authorities dispatched special forces troops to search for survivors and cut trees so rescue helicopters could access the remote site.

The Russian-piloted Antonov An-24 plane belonging to PMTair took off from Siem Reap, the northern Cambodian city where the Angkor temple complex is located, around 10 a.m. Monday for the southern city Sihanoukville, which neighbors Kampot.

The crash site is 56.7 kilometers short of Sihanoukville airport, the senior government source said.

Severe weather is thought to have contributed to the crash and bad weather seriously hampered the search efforts, which were led by Prime Minister Hun Sen from Tuesday.

More than 2,000 troops, including crack paratroop units, police and other rescuers joined the effort to find the plane.

The Cambodian government also called for remote imaging searches from South Korean and U.S. satellites.