A plane carrying 132 people has crashed in China with investigators working to determine the cause.
Officials are reporting the China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane went down in the southwestern part of the country, sparking a mountainside fire in Teng county.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has released a statement saying the plane was carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members.
The flight has been identified as MU5735, a Boeing 737-89P. It was travelling from Kunming in the western province of Yunnan to the industrial centre of Guangzhou.
Rescue crews immediately responded to the scene, travelling over difficult terrain.
Media reports indicate there are no signs of survivors.
Investigators will search for the plane’s black boxes to help determine what triggered the crash. Tracking data shows once the plane lost contact with air traffic control, it plummeted thousands of meters within minutes.
The safety record of China’s airline industry has been among the top in the world over the past ten years. Its last deadly passenger plane crash was reported in 2010.
The 737-800, which is considered the predecessor to the 737 MAX, has a good safety record.
The MAX model was grounded worldwide in 2019 after two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
China was the last major market to clear the plane to return to service late last year.
