BEIJING (Reuters) – A plane carrying 132 people on board has crashed in China.
The China Eastern Airlines plane crashed in the mountains in the south of the country on Monday, according to CAAC air traffic control. The plane was en route from Kunming to Guangzhou when contact was lost over the city of Wuzhou. According to the state broadcaster CCTV, it was initially unclear how many people died in the Boeing 737 crash. The rescue workers are on their way.
According to data from the Flightradar24 website, the accident machine is a six-year-old Boeing 737-800. The machine had been in the air for around an hour when it lost a lot of altitude and crashed within a short time. It was initially unclear what caused the accident. According to media reports, a rescue worker said the plane was completely destroyed. According to reports, a forest fire at the crash site has now been extinguished.
The airline confirmed the crash and set up a hotline for the passengers’ families. The US aircraft manufacturer Boeing did not initially respond to a request for comment.
According to the aviation data provider OAG, the state-owned airline China Eastern is the market leader in China and number six in the industry worldwide. China is known for its high standards in aviation. Most recently, a regional jet crashed in 2010, killing 44 of the 96 people on board. The Boeing 737-800 is also one of the machines that are considered safe. It is the forerunner of the ill-fated 737 MAX, which was phased out for years after two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.