Boeing 737 plane carrying 133 passengers crashes in China

A China Eastern passenger jet carrying 133 people has crashed in southwest China and caused a mountain fire with casualties unknown, state broadcaster CCTV reported Monday.

The Boeing 737 plane crashed in the rural countryside near Wuzhou city, Guangxi region and “caused a mountain fire”, CCTV said, citing the provincial emergency management bureau.

The report added that rescue teams were dispatched to the scene.

CCTV said a “China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 plane carrying 133 people has crashed in Teng county, Wuzhou, Guangxi, and caused a mountain fire.”

The China Eastern flight from Kunming to Guangzhou departed at 1.11 pm local time (0511 GMT), FlightRadar24 data showed. The flight tracking ended at 2.22 pm local time (0622 GMT) an altitude of 3225 feet with a speed of 376 knots.

It had been due to land at 3.05 pm (0705 GMT).

The safety record of China’s airline industry has been among the best in the world over the past decade.

According to Aviation Safety Network, China’s last fatal jet accident was in 2010, when 44 of 96 people on board were killed when an Embraer E-190 regional jet flown by Henan Airlines crashed on approach to Yichun airport in low visibility.