The death toll from a TransAsia Airways plane that crashed into a Taipei river shortly after taking off has risen to 31, Taiwan officials said on Thursday, and could rise further, with 12 people still missing.

TransAsia Flight GE235, carrying 58 passengers and crew, lurched between buildings, clipped an overpass with its port-side wing and crashed upside down into the shallow river shortly after taking off from a downtown Taipei airport on Wednesday.

Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said 15 people survived. Three of those who were rescued were from a group of 31 tourists from mainland China.

The pilot and co-pilot of the turboprop ATR 72-600 were among those killed, the CAA said.