Chinese passenger plane crashes with 132 people on-board
A Chinese passenger plane with 132 people on-
board today (Monday) crashed in the country's mountainous southern Guangxi Zhuang
autonomous region, Chinese authorities and international media reported.
"The Boeing 737 aircraft of China Eastern Airlines, which took off from
Kunming and was bound for Guangzhou, crashed in Tengxian County in the city
of Wuzhou, causing a mountain fire," state-run Xinhua news agency said
quoting China's regional emergency management department.
It said the accident occurred on Monday afternoon while the Aviation
Administration of China on its website said the aircraft was carrying 132
people, 123 of them being passengers and rest were crew members.
The administration said it initiated an "emergency response mechanism and
dispatched a working team to the site" and the rescue operation was underway
with the Wuzhou fire brigade sending 117 firefighters with23 fire trucks to
the site.
"Further 538 firefighters from other parts of Guangxi have been dispatched
to join in the rescue efforts," the regional fire department said at its
Weibo account.
The BBC, meanwhile, said the China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 was flying
from Kunming to Guangzhou when it came down in hills in Guangxi province and
caught fire.
"It is feared there are no survivors, but the number of casualties - and
reason for the crash are not yet known," the BBC report read.
Videos widely shared on social media that appear to be taken by locals
showed that plane debris strewn around the hills, and a fiery blaze and smoke
billowing from the crash site and the Chinese state media shared those
footages as well.
The footage posted online show plumes of smoke billowing from a mountainous,
forested area and what appears to be wreckage from the plane on a muddy,
mountain path.
Chinese airlines generally have a good safety record while the last major
accident took place 12 years ago when a flight from Harbin crashed in Yichun
killing 42 people.
China Eastern is yet to comment on the crash, or respond to queries; but it
has made its logo grey on its Weibo account and also changed its website to
black and white- a sign of mourning.
BBC flight tracking sites reported that the plane was in the air for just
over an hour, and was nearing its destination when it went down in Wuzhou.
According to FlightRadar24 data, the last sourced information on the flight
showed it ended at 14:22 local time, at an altitude of 3,225 ft.
The state-run Russian news agency TASS said the aircraft was less than seven
years old and was in operation by China Eastern Airlines since 2015.
Source: BSS
AH
21 Mar 2022,20:02
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