Plane carrying 133 passengers crashes in China, ‘shocked’ President Xi Jinping orders probe

A China Eastern Airlines aircraft with 132 passengers on board crashed in the Guangxi region, causing a fire in the mountains, ANI reported. The Boeing 737 was travelling from Kunming to Guangzhou, and currently, the number of casualties is unknown. 

The video above shows smoke from the crash. At present, rescue teams have been dispatched to the site of the crash. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that he was “shocked” to learn about the crash and has ordered an “all-out search” and rescue efforts. He said swift action should be taken to identify the cause of the crash.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China confirmed that officials had already been dispatched, while the Guangxi fire service said that work was going on to control a blaze in the mountainside caused due to the crash.  

As per Flightradar24, the aircraft has been identified as a 737-800, which is six years old. Al Jazeera reported from local media that the China Eastern flight MU5735 had not reached Guangzhou, the scheduled destination. 

According to the Aviation Safety Network, China’s last fatal plane accident took place in 2010, where 44 out of 96 on board were killed. An Embraer E-190 regional jet belonging to Henan Airlines, crashed while approaching Yichun airport, due to low visibility.

While the twin-engine, single-aisle Boeing 737 is one of the most popular planes in the world when it comes to short and medium distance flights, the 737 Max version has remained grounded all over the world following two fatal crashes. 

In late 2021, China’s aviation regulator greenlit the plane to return to service, making China one of the last major markets in the world to have that particular model in operation.