BEIJING, CHINA — A China Eastern Airlines aircraft with 132 people on board crashed in mountains in China's southern Guangxi region on Monday (Mar 21) while on a flight from the city of Kunming to Guangzhou.
According to local media reports, rescue workers have found no sign of survivors so far.
The Boeing 737 flight "lost airborne contact over Wuzhou" city in the Guangxi region, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in an online announcement.
At present, it has been confirmed that this flight has crashed," the CAAC said, adding that it had activated its emergency response and "dispatched a working group to the scene.
There were 123 passengers and nine crew on board, said CAAC. State media said earlier there were 133 people on board.
"Can confirm the plane has crashed," China Eastern Airlines said in a statement in which it also gave details of a hotline for relatives of those on board.
The number of casualties was not immediately known and there was no word on the cause of the crash. The plane was a six-year-old 737-800 aircraft with registration B-1791
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for "all-out" efforts to organise a search and rescue operation for passengers on the crashed plane, state television reported.
Expressing "shock" at hearing the news of the crash, Xi instructed officials to launch an emergency response immediately and to investigate the cause of the crash as soon as possible, according to state television CCTV.
China's Premier Li Keqiang also instructed officials to spare no effort in searching for survivors and to provide sufficient comfort to the victims' families, according to CCTV.
Picture Credit: FlightRadar24
