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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Antony Thrower

China plane crash: Boeing 737 carrying 132 people smashes into mountains

A Boeing 737 carrying more than 130 people has crashed in mountains in China, with smoke seen billowing from the scene.

Chinese state television says the plane, flying from Kunming to Guangzhou, had an “accident” over Guangxi.

The China Eastern Airlines flight had 132 people onboard at the time of the incident, with nine crew members.

It is currently unknown how many casualties there are but rescue is said to be on its way to the mountainous region.

The Guangxi Emergency Management Department said in a statement: "A Boeing 737 passenger plane carrying 132 people from China Eastern Airlines crashed in Teng County, Wuzhou, Guangxi, and caused a mountain fire.

"At present, rescue teams have assembled and approached, and the casualties are unknown."

A Boeing 737 carrying 132 people has crashed in mountains in China, with smoke seen billowing from the scene (@TheLegateIN/Twitter)
More footage from the area showed the area was ablaze (@hingkan88/Twitter)

A video shared online showed white smoke billowing from between trees.

Other footage showed the area ablaze with flames.

Images shared on Twitter claimed to be of large pieces of the plane's fuselage discovered in the area by locals.

The Aviation Safety Network tweeted: "We are following multiple unconfirmed reports about a possible accident involving China Eastern Airlines flight #MU5735 a Boeing 737-89P (B-1791) en route from Kunming to Guanghzou, China."

Pieces of the plane found by locals in the area (@breathing_funny/Twitter)
The number of casualties is currently unknown (@breathing_funny/Twitter)

In response to the tragedy, China Eastern Airlines turned its website black and white out of respect to those onboard.

Flight data claimed to be from the flight shows the plane, which was six-years-old, dropped thousands of feet to the ground in just minutes, giving crew little time to react to whatever the issue was.

MU5735 departed from Kunming to Guangzhou departed at 1:11 pm local time according to FlightRadar24 data.

The flight tracking ended at 2.22pm (6.22am GMT) an altitude of around 30,000 feet with a speed of 376 knots when it suddenly plummeted to the ground.

The flight's journey before suddenly falling thousands of feet (FlightRadar24)

It had been due to land an hour later.

Several people on social media posted they were praying for those onboard the tragic flight.

One said: "Thoughts and prayers are with the victims of #chinaeasternairlines crash aircraft reg: B-1791 flight #MU5735 RIP."

China's recent flight safety record before today was among the best in the world.

The last fatal plane crash in China was in 2010 when an Embraer E-190 regional jet flown by Henan Airlines crashed on approach to Yichun airport in low visibility.

Of the 96 people aboard, 44 were killed.

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