![Chinese plane with 132 people crashes and starts mountain fire](https://maltadaily.mt/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/planeweb.jpg)
A passenger plane carrying around 132 people crashed in souther China in the Guangxi province, sparking a mountainside fire in the process.
The China Eastern Airlines flight, a Boeing 737, crashed near the city of Wuzhou in Teng County, Guangxi province. It departed at around 1pm but did not reach its scheduled destination in Guangzhou.
Flight tracking data shows the plane dropping from radar signal to the south-west of Wuzhou shortly before 2:30pm local time. Civil Aviation Administration said it activated emergency protocols and sent a working group to the scene.
Rescuers had been dispatched but there were no immediate details of casualties among the 123 passengers and nine crew members.
Uploaded photos and videos showed plumes of smoke from a mountainous region. A plane wreckage with the name ‘Chine Eastern Airline’ was shown among the trees, but Guardian has not independently verified the footage.
China had otherwise enjoyed an enviable air safety record in recent years in a country filled with new airports and serviced by new airlines established to match the country’s breakneck growth.
The last tragedy was a Henan Airlines flight crashing in northeastern Heilongjiang province in 2010, which killed at least 42 out of 92 people on board, but the final toll was never confirmed.
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