China Eastern plane smashed into countryside near Wuzhou city, Guangxi region, and ’caused a mountain fire’
Rescue workers on the scene say the blaze triggered by the crash ‘totally incinerated’ the passengers
New images emerged showing rescue workers and officials picking through the debris earlier today
It was confirmed late Monday all 132 people on board, among them 123 passengers and nine crew, were killed
An expert said the pilot may have ‘regained consciousness’ in a last ditch attempt to save the plunging plane
President Xi has ordered a full probe into the incident which is China’s deadliest air crash in nearly 30 years
Shocking CCTV emerged on social media showing jet racing vertically towards the ground on Monday
Chinese recovery teams were today picking through the debris of a crashed China Eastern jet after it inexplicably plummeted from the sky into a mountainside yesterday with 132 people on board.
The Chinese Boeing 737-800 smashed into a mountainside with no survivors, and rescue workers speculated that the fire resulting from the crash had ‘totally incinerated’ the passengers and their belongings, before causing damage to the surrounding forest.
China Eastern yesterday grounded all of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft after the incident, in which the plane suddenly nose-dived and plummeted 30,000ft in two minutes before slamming into the ground at 350mph.
The incident represents China’s deadliest air crash in nearly three decades. The deadliest Chinese commercial flight accident was a China Northwest Airlines crash in 1994, which killed all 160 onboard.
President Xi Jinping quickly called for a full probe following the crash as search teams, firefighters and other personnel descended upon the site in a rural area of Guangxi province.
State media showed uniformed search teams clambering over a scene of upturned earth, blasted trees and scattered debris, including a section of plane bearing the carrier’s blue and red livery.
Other teams were shown launching drones, in a search mission complicated by the steep terrain and dense vegetation.
The airline earlier on Monday acknowledged that some aboard the jet, which was travelling from the city of Kunming to the southern hub of Guangzhou, had died, but did not offer more details.
‘The company expresses its deep condolences for the passengers and crew members who died in the plane crash,’ China Eastern said in a statement late Monday without providing more information.
