BEIJING: 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.”
Local media reported that China Eastern flight MU5735 had not arrived at its scheduled destination in Guangzhou after it took off from the city of Kunming shortly after 1:00 pm (0500 GMT) Monday, citing airport staff.
Read more: Seven killed in small plane crash in Sao Paulo state of Brazil
Seven people aboard died when a private plane crashed in a wooded area of Sao Paulo state, according to Brazilian authorities said.
Killed in the crash were Celso Silveira Mello Filho, a shareholder in energy company Cosan SA, his wife and their three children, along with the pilot and co-pilot, the firm said in a statement.
Celso was the brother of billionaire Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello, the chairman of Cosan, a major sugarcane grower and ethanol producer that is a partner with Royal Dutch Shell in the joint venture Raizen SA.
