Three bodies were recovered on Thursday from the wreckage of a Myanmar military plane that crashed into the sea with 104 people on board, defence officials said.

The bodies of a man, woman and a child, as well as plane wheels, several life jackets and clothing were found about 22 km west of Kyauk Nimak, Efe news reported.

The Chinese-made Y-8F-200 aircraft left from Tanintharyi region’s Myeik city on Wednesday for Yangon and disappeared from the radar near the city of Dawei after travelling for about 100 km.

The 104 on board included 90 members of soldiers’ families and 14 crew.

The Y-8F-200 was delivered to the Armed Forces in March 2016 and had clocked up 809 flying hours.

At least six navy boats and three planes are carrying out a search and rescue mission to find potential survivors.

The military said the tragedy may have occurred due to bad weather but this could be confirmed only after the black box was found.