A passenger plane with more than 130 people on board crashed Monday afternoon in a mountainous region in southern China, prompting rescue teams to rush to the site in search of survivors.
Initial Chinese news reports, citing local officials, said a Boeing 737, operated by China Eastern Airlines, crashed in the Guangxi region, and flames and smoke were seen rising from a hill.
“A rescue team is currently assembled and approaching,” said an online report by Chinese state television. “The situation with the victims remains unclear.”
Initial reports said the plane crashed in Teng County in Guangxi while flying from Kunming, a city in southwest China, to the southernmost city of Guangzhou. The plane was carrying 132 people, including 123 passengers and 9 crew members. said the papernews site in Shanghai.
Footage shared by Chinese netizens showed flames in a tree-drenched hill, while explosions rang out, but the location of the footage was not clear.
This accident could become one of the worst air disasters in China in many years, after a series of fatal accidents in the 1990s. Over the past two decades, the country has established a relatively safe flight record, thanks to a nascent fleet of aircraft and stricter air controls.
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