Chinese Authorities Successfully Confirm The Identity Of 120 Victims Of 132 Crew And Passengers Of China Eastern Airlines MU5735

Rescue teams carry out search and rescue efforts at the crash site of the China Eastern Airlines plane in Guangxi, China. (Antara/Xinhua/Lu Boan/wsj)

JAKARTA - The identities of the 120 victims, consisting of 114 passengers and six crew, aboard the downed plane MU5735 have been confirmed by the Ministry of Public Security, the head of the search and rescue team said Saturday.

The local Civil Affairs Department has arranged for funeral service assistance. All the remains and belongings of the victims have been well preserved, said Zheng Xi, head of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region's Fire and Rescue Brigade.

It is understood that the Boeing 737-800 belonging to China Eastern Airlines airline MU5735, which was carrying 132 people, 123 passengers and 9 crew, crashed into a mountain in the Guangxi region on Monday.

"Search and rescue work is still ongoing," Zheng said at a press conference, adding that the team's priority right now was to look for signs of life and a second black box.

Previously, search and rescue teams managed to find one of the black cities, believed to be the conversation recorder in the cockpit, on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Zhu Tao, head of the aviation safety office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said at a press conference that as of Saturday afternoon, 493 family members for 80 passengers had arrived in Wuzhou, Guangxi.

Zhu explained, each family will have special assistance such as psychological counseling. Their requests and claims will be handled in a timely manner. A total of 747 mental evaluations and 1,182 counseling sessions had been given to family members, he said.

Separately, Liu Xiaodong, head of China Eastern Airlines' publicity department, said the airline managed to contact the families of all passengers within 24 hours.

He said it was difficult to meet all the needs of every family in a short time. However, many practical problems have been solved thanks to the quick response and cooperation, between government departments of various regions with social assistance.

He added that the airline company had formed a team to provide reassurance to the families of the missing flight crew members, and also help the families to solve practical problems.

As previously reported, China confirmed on Saturday night that all 132 passengers and crew of the China Eastern Airlines airline that crashed in a recent crash were killed.

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," Hu said.

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.