China confirms all 132 passengers dead in plane crash
No survivors were found on the China Eastern Airlines crash site.
-
Plane debris is seen at the site where a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane flying from Kunming to Guangzhou crashed, in Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, March 21, 2022. (Reuters)
On Saturday, China confirmed that 132 passengers and crew members on the China Eastern Airlines, which crashed last week, died.
Read more: China: Plane crashes in Guangxi province
The flight, MU5735, was traveling from the southwestern city of Kunming to Guangzhou on Monday when it crashed violently in a forested area in the Guangxi region.
On Saturday night, Hu Zhenjiang, the deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), told reporters that there were no signs of survival from the crash site, and all 123 passengers and 9 crew members were killed, according to state media.
The DNA of 120 people on board were found and recovered by the search team, which is still looking for the second black box.
Zhu Tao, director of the Aviation Safety Office of CAAC, revealed in an earlier press conference that an emergency location transmitter, which was close to where the second black box was located, was found.
The other black box which records the cockpit was found on Wednesday and was sent to Beijing.
Plane parts are drenched in heavy mud; search teams have been digging for plane parts both by hand and by using machines.
One Guangxi official revealed that no explosive elements were detected so far in the debris.