Flight carrying 132

crashes in Guangxi
CD CHINADAILY 2022-03-22 09:56

All-out search and rescue efforts were underway on Monday after a China Eastern
Airlines aircraft carrying 132 people crashed in South China's Guangxi Zhuang
autonomous region in the afternoon ending China's 12-year air safety record.

Flight MU5735 left Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, at 1:11 pm and was
scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, at 3:05 pm. Air traffic
controllers lost track of the plane over Wuzhou, Guangxi. The flight was carrying
123 passengers and nine crew members.

No report on casualties was available as of press time.

In an instruction issued shortly after the crash, President Xi Jinping, also general
secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the
Central Military Commission, said he was shocked to learn about the accident and
asked for the immediate launch of an emergency response.

He also asked authorities to organize all-out search and rescue work and to
appropriately deal with the aftermath of the accident.

Xi stressed swift action be taken to identify the cause of the crash and strengthen
and overhaul the safety of the civil aviation sector to ensure the absolute safety of
the sector and people's lives.

Premier Li Keqiang also made an instruction on Monday, urging that utmost efforts
be made to search for survivors and treat the injured. He also stressed that efforts
be made to comfort the victims' families and provide them with necessary help.

Li asked authorities to release relevant information in a timely, accurate and

evidence-based manner, find the cause of the accident and take measures to
strengthen civil aviation safety management.

The crash site is in forest near Tengxian county's Molang village. In the afternoon,
fire and rescue teams discovered aircraft debris scattered in the forest. No remains
of passengers had been found, according to the Guangxi Regional Emergency
Management Bureau's fire and rescue department.

▲ Photo taken with a mobile phone shows the plane crash site in Tengxian county, South
China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, March 21, 2022. Photo/Xinhua

A forest fire caused by the plane crash has been put out, Ou Ling, political
commissar of the Wuzhou Fire and Rescue Brigade, told CCTV.

"A total of 622 firefighters have arrived at the scene, which is surrounded by
mountains on three sides. There is only a narrow road that leads to the site, so
heavy vehicles and machinery still can't get in," Ou said.

"Also, it's difficult to carry out search and rescue work at night when the electricity
supply isn't stable. …We are drawing up a practical plan to ensure that the search
and rescue work can be carried out efficiently."

More than 640 firefighters from nearby Yunnan and Guangdong provinces were
dispatched to the crash site. Police officers and members of the People's Armed
Police Force were also sent to the crash scene for search and rescue work,
according to local authorities.

▲ Firefighters conduct search and rescue work near the site where a passenger plane with
132 people aboard crashed in Tengxian county in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
Photo provided to China Daily

The Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Ministry of Emergency

Management have sent task forces to the site to help with the rescue efforts.

Heavy rainfall was forecast for Monday night and Tuesday, according to the
provincial meteorological department, which may hinder search and rescue work.

China has had a good air safety record over the past 4,227 days. The country's last
major plane accident was in August 2010 in Heilongjiang province, when a flight
from Harbin crashed in Yichun, killing 44 people.

China Eastern has grayed out its logo on its Weibo account and also changed its
website to black and white a sign of mourning after the crash was confirmed.

The airline's work group was also dispatched to the scene. A hotline has been
opened for relatives of the passengers, while a gathering area for them was set up
at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

CHINADAILY
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