Chinese plane carrying 133 people crashes, casualties unknown

A Chinese passenger plane belonging to the China Eastern Airlines carrying 133 people has crashed in southwest China, the country’s state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday morning.

The CCTV added that it had no immediate information on the number of casualties so far or if there are any survivors.

“The Boeing 737 plane crashed in the countryside near Wuzhou city in the Guangxi region. It caused a mountain fire,” the broadcaster said, adding that search and rescue teams have been dispatched to the scene.

There was also no information on the cause of the crash of the plane identified as a 6-year-old 737-800 aircraft.

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Local Chinese media also report that the China Eastern flight MU5735 had not arrived at its scheduled destination in Guangzhou after it took off from the city of Kunming shortly after 1:00pm (0500 GMT) on Monday, citing airport staff.

According to airport officials, the flight tracking ended at 2:22pm (0622 GMT) an altitude of 3225 feet with a speed of 376 knots as the plane had been due to land at 3:05pm (0705 GMT).

The twin-engine, single aisle Boeing 737 is one of the world’s most popular planes for short and medium-haul flights and was introduced after the 737 Max version was grounded worldwide after two fatal crashes.

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