søndag 27. mars 2022

All 132 people on board crashed China airliner confirmed dead as second black box recovered

All 132 people on board the China Eastern Airlines jetliner that crashed in the densely forested mountains of southern China Monday are dead, China's aviation authorities confirmed Saturday night. For days, rescue teams had been combing through the crash site -- wading through heavy mud and thicket, scattered with debris and plane parts -- in southern China's Guangxi region, while desperate family members waited for news of their loved ones.

China's Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) said they have identified 120 of the victims using DNA testing, including 114 passengers and six crew members.

Monday's crash of the Boeing 737-800 plane marks China's worst air disaster in more than a decade. Flight MU5735 was en route from the southwestern city of Kunming to Guangzhou with 123 passengers and nine crew members on board, when it lost contact over the city of Wuzhou, the CAAC said in a statement. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined but on Sunday recovery teams found the plane's second so-called "black box," according to state media outlet Xinhua. State television channel CGTN also showed images of what it too reported was the black box.