A China Eastern Airlines plane with 132 people on board has crashed in Southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Monday. The crashed plane – Boeing 737 was flying from Kunming to Guangzhou when it came down in hills in Wuzhou City in Guangxi province and caught fire. The number of casualties, the precise cause of the incident remains undetermined, and rescue operations are underway.
State media reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the immediate activation of the emergency mechanism for the plane crash, sparing no efforts on search and rescue, and properly handling of the aftermath.
The State Council – China’s cabinet will assign officials to deal with the accident as a priority, identify the cause as soon as possible, and strengthen the investigation of safety hazards in civil aviation to ensure the absolute safety of aviation operations and people’s lives in the future.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called for all-out efforts to search for survivors and treat the injured and emphasized the need to reassure and serve the families of the victims.
The Boeing 737 which crashed today had 132 onboard, including 123 passengers, and nine crew members. It has been in operation for just over six and a half years. The plane was delivered in June 2015. In terms of aircraft casualties, the situation appears grim, and the possibility of all onboard perishing cannot be ruled out.
Moreover, search and rescue are difficult due to terrain around the crash site. China has had a good air safety record over the past decade. The country’s last major plane accident was in August 2010, when a flight from Harbin crashed in Yichun killing 44 people.
China’s Civil Aviation Administration said it had also dispatched its investigators to the site. A mountain fire which broke out when the aircraft came down has been put out. Flight MU5735 left Kunming at 13:11 hours local time and was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou at 15:05 hours. Flight tracking sites report the plane was in the air for just over an hour and was nearing its destination when it went down in Wuzhou.
Videos widely shared on social media show plane debris spread around the hills, and a fiery blaze and smoke rising from the crash site. Chinese state media have shared those videos.
State media reported China Eastern greyed out its logo on its Weibo account and also changed its website to black and white- a sign of mourning. Meanwhile, an unidentified number of flights departing from Kunming, Yunnan Province, operated by China Eastern Airlines Monday afternoon were canceled, according to state media.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed shock and sadness over the crash of a passenger flight MU5735 with 132 on board in China’s Guangxi. In a tweet, Mr Modi said, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the crash and their family members.