Sad News, Authorities Say All Passengers And Crew Of China Eastern Airlines Died In Accident In Guangxi

JAKARTA - China confirmed on Saturday night that all 132 passengers and crew of the China Eastern Airlines airline that crashed in a recent crash died.

Flight MU5735 was traveling from southwest Kunming City to the port city of Guangzhou on Monday, when it crashed from a cruising height in a heavily forested area of the Guangxi region.

A senior official with China's Civil Aviation Administration said 123 passengers and nine crew on the flight were pronounced dead.

Despite the intensive search and rescue operation since Monday, there is no sign of life at the crash site, Hu Zhenjiang, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said at a press conference held in Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

"We have analyzed surveillance video footage, air traffic control data and debris patterns at the crash site. We can confirm that there are no survivors," he said, citing the China Daily March 27.

"It is with a heavy heart and deep sadness that we are here to announce that the 123 passengers and nine crew members of China Eastern Flight MU5735 have all lost their lives."

Following the announcement, those attending the press conference held a minute's silence to mourn the victims.

Hu said search and rescue teams would continue to search for the victims, their bodies, belongings and aircraft debris to show respect for life and responsibility to the relatives of the victims. Also, the findings at the crash site are key to the investigation of the tragedy.

It is known, China Eastern Flight MU5735 left Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, on Monday at 13:11 local time. The plane was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, at 3:05 p.m. local time. Air traffic controllers lost track of the plane over Wuzhou at 2:21 p.m. local time.