Airline with 133 people on board crashes in China

A China Eastern Airlines plane with 132 people on board crashed in southwest China on Monday, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said, without giving an immediate assessment.

 

According to local media, the flight MU5735 of China Eastern Airlines had taken off shortly after 13:00 local time from the metropolis of Kunming (southwest). Its destination was Guangzhou (South), some 1,300 km away. The aircraft lost contact over the city of Wuzhou in the mountainous region of Guangxi, said the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). It is confirmed that this flight crashed, it added in a brief statement, saying it had dispatched a task force to the scene. The plane was carrying 123 passengers and 9 crew members, according to the CAAC. The accident caused a fire in a mountain, said the state television CCTV, adding that rescue teams had been sent to the scene. No comment was immediately available from China Eastern.

 

Airplane accidents are relatively rare in China, a country where air traffic has grown considerably in recent decades and safety measures are generally strict. The last major accident in the country was in August 2010, when nearly 50 people died.