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China plane crash: Video shows debris and wreckage from site
China Eastern flight MU5735 was carrying 132 people -123 passengers, nine crew, from Kunming to Guangzhou.
A China Eastern Airlines plane carrying 132 people - 123 passengers and nine crew - from Kunming to Guangzhou crashed in the country's southern province of Guangxi on Monday. The number of casualties is not known at this time, although Reuters quotes People's Daily - China's largest newspaper group - as saying there were no signs of life among the scattered debris.
Photos and videos have begun to emerge from the crash site. In visuals shared by state-run CGTN, an English-language cable TV news service based in Beijing, pieces of what the plane's wings and fuselage are seen scattered.
READ: China plane crash - What happened to Eastern Airline flight MU5735?
In one of the videos - among those circulated soon after the crash - a massive fire can be seen raging on a mountain, with smoke billowing into the air. And in yet another video, a small broken part of the plane can be seen in the forest.
Shortly after the crash the China Eastern Airlines website and online platforms were presented in black and white - as a sign of respect.
READ: China plane crash - Website turns black-and-white in sign of respect
Meanwhile, President Xi Jinping has urged the country to step up rescue efforts and called on officials to establish what went wrong.
READ: China plane crash - President Xi expresses shock, orders probe
Flight MU5735 departed the southwestern city of Kunming at 1.11 pm (10.41 am India time). It was to land in Guangzhou at 3:05 p.m. (0705 GMT).
Radar showed the aircraft making a steep descent and contact was lost over Wuzhou city. Online weather data showed partly cloudy conditions with good visibility before the crash.
The plane was cruising at 29,100 feet at 11.50 am India time. Around 135 seconds later, next available data showed it descended to 9,075 feet.
Read more: Plane carrying 132 crashes in China, ‘no sign of survivors’
Its last tracked altitude was 3,225 feet, some 20 seconds after that steep descent. At the time the plane was travelling at 376 knots per hour.
Tracking stopped at 2.22 pm (11.52 am India time).
In a statement after the crash the CAAC, or Civil Aviation Administration of China, confirmed the crash and said it had 'activated the emergency mechanism and sent a working group to the scene'.
The aircraft that crashed - a Boeing 737-800 - had been delivered to China Eastern Airlines in June 2015.
READ: Chinese plane crash - A look at China's past air accidents
With input from agencies
