According to China’s Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), a China Eastern passenger plane carrying 132 people crashed in southwest China, causing a mountain fire with unknown casualties.
According to CCTV, citing the provincial emergency management office, the Boeing 737 airliner crashed in the remote countryside near Wuzhou city, Guangxi region, and “triggered a mountain fire.”
Rescue services were called to the location, according to the report.
The aircraft lost touch above Wuzhou, according to the Civil Aviation Administration. On board were 123 passengers and nine crew members. Earlier, state media said that 133 individuals were on board.
FlightRadar24 data showed that the China Eastern flight from Kunming to Guangzhou took off at 1.11 p.m. local time (0511 GMT). At 2.22 p.m. local time (0622 GMT), the flight was tracked at an altitude of 3225 feet and a speed of 376 knots.
It was scheduled to land at 3:05 p.m. (0705 GMT).
Over the last decade, China’s airline industry has had one of the best safety records in the world.
According to the Aviation Safety Network, China’s most recent fatal jet accident occurred in 2010, when a Henan Airlines Embraer E-190 regional plane crashed on approach to Yichun airport in bad visibility, killing 44 of the 96 passengers on board.
