A Chinese passenger plane with 132 people on board has crashed in a forested hillside in southern China.
The China Eastern Airlines, Boeing 737-800, was flying from Kunming to Guangzhou when it plunged to earth in Guangxi province and caught fire.
The number of casualties and reason for the crash are not yet known. Rescuers have seen no signs of survivors.
Chinese airlines generally have a good safety record – the last major accident took place 12 years ago.
The crash has caused shock in China, where President Xi Jinping has ordered an immediate investigation to determine the cause. China Eastern Airlines has grounded all its 737-800s.
Flight tracking data suggested the plane lost height rapidly from its cruising altitude before plummeting to the ground.
More than 600 emergency respondents were said to be at the crash site. Firefighters reached the scene first and managed to extinguish a blaze in the hills caused by the crash.
Footage taken by local villagers and shared on Chinese social media – and by state broadcasters – showed fire and smoke from the crash, with plane debris on the ground.
Air safety and aviation standards in China have improved vastly in recent decades, following a series of accidents in the 1990sand crashes such as this was now very rare.
The country’s last major plane accident was in August 2010, when a flight from Harbin crashed in north-east Yichun during foggy weather, killing 42 people.
China Eastern has set up a hotline for people seeking information about those on board. It expressed “its deep condolences for the passengers and crew members who died”.
Earlier, it greyed out its logo on its Weibo account and also changed its website to black and white in an apparent sign of mourning.
Staff at Guangzhou airport are directing worried relatives to a separate zone set up to receive them.
One woman waiting for news there told local media she had booked a seat on the flight, but ended up switching to an earlier plane.
“I feel very sad,” she said. Her sister and four friends were on the crashed plane, AFP news agency reports.
State-owned China Eastern is one of China’s big three airlines, along with China Southern and Air China. -BBC
