China Eastern Airlines crash: Website turns black-and-white in sign of respect

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the country to step up all rescue efforts after the crash.

A Chinese Eastern Airlines plane - a Boeing-737 - carrying 132 people, including nine crew members crashed in the country's southwestern province of Guangxi on Monday. Visuals of the crash circulated on social media showing a big fire on a mountain side.

China Eastern Airlines website in black and white in respect for those aboard the plane that crashed Monday afternoon

After the crash, the website of China Eastern Airlines, mobile app and some of its other social media platforms were presented in black and white - what airlines do as a sign of respect or mourning for the assumed victims.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the country to step up all rescue efforts after the crash. He has also urged the officials to find a reason behind the incident as soon as possible.

READ: Plane carrying 132 crashes in China, causes forest fire; casualties unknown

According to flight tracking service FlightRadar24, China Eastern flight MU5735 was traveling from Kunming to Guangzhou. China's aviation regulatory body said that contact with the aircraft was lost over Wuzhou city. There is no immediate information on casualties and emergency teams have rushed to the spot.

The plane was six years old, and had been cruising at an altitude 29,100 feet at 0620 GMT. Just over two minutes and 15 seconds later, data showed it had descended to 9,075 feet, reported Reuters.

In a statement, the aviation body said, “At present, it has been confirmed that this flight has crashed. The CAAC, or Civil Aviation Administration of China has activated the emergency mechanism and sent a working group to the scene.” The Boeing aircraft had been delivered to China Eastern Airlines from Boeing in June 2015. It had been flying for more than six years, reported the Associated Press.

READ: China plane crash: What happened to Eastern Airline flight MU5735?