China plane crash: Boeing 737 carrying 132 passengers crashes near Wuzhou

A Boeing 737 plane carrying 132 passengers has crashed in mountains in China.

Chinese state television CGTN reported on Monday the China Eastern Airlines aircraft from Kunming to Guangzhou had an “accident” in the region of Guangxi and caused a fire on the mountains.

The jet involved in the accident was a Boeing 737 aircraft and the number of casualties was not immediately known. CGTN said rescue teams were dispatched to the scene.

Videos shared online purportedly of the crash shows a massive fire and huge plumes of smoke billowing from the mountainside near Wuzhou in Teng county in southern China.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China confirmed the crash, saying there were 123 passengers and nine crew members on board.

The Boeing 737-800 departed at 1.11pm local time, according to FlightRadar24. The flight tracking ended at 2.22pm (6.22am UK time), with the plane plummeting from 29,100ft to 3,225ft before it disappeared at a speed of 376 knots a few miles south west of Wuzhou . It had been due to land at 3.05pm.

The location of the final signal was an area of tree covered hills and remote villages near to the S40 highway.

The jet, registered as B-1791, which first flew in 2015, was on its third flight of the day, having earlier flown from Kunming to Chongqing and back again before taking off on its flight to Guangzhou.

The twin-engine, single aisle Boeing 737 is one of the world’s most popular planes for short and medium-haul flights. China Eastern operates multiple versions of the common aircraft, including the 737-800 and the 737 Max.

The 737 Max version was grounded worldwide after two fatal crashes. China’s aviation regulator cleared that plane to return to service late last year, making the country the last major market to do so.

The Chinese website of China Eastern Airlines displayed in black and white, which airlines do in response to a crash as a sign of respect for the assumed victims.

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