China Eastern plane crash: PM Imran Khan expresses sorrow over loss of lives

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed sorrow over the tragic loss of lives in China Eastern Airlines passenger plane crash, ARY News reported on Monday.

PM Imran Khan said in a Twitter message, “Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives in the passenger plane crash in China.”

“We share the grief of our Chinese brothers and sisters and convey our deepest condolences and sympathies with the bereaved families,” he added.

Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives in the passenger plane crash in China. We share the grief of our Chinese brothers and sisters and convey our deepest condolences and sympathies with the bereaved families.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 21, 2022

MU5735 crashes in mountains

A China Eastern Airlines aircraft with 133 people on board crashed in mountains in south China on Monday while on a flight from the city of Kunming to Guangzhou, state media reported.

The jet involved in the accident was a Boeing 737 aircraft and the number of casualties was not immediately known, CCTV said. Rescue was on its way, it said.

There was no word on the cause of the crash of the plane, a 6-year-old 737-800 aircraft, according to Flightradar24.

The China Eastern flight from Kunming to Guangzhou departed at 1:11 p.m. (0511 GMT), FlightRadar24 data showed. The flight tracking ended at 2:22 p.m. (0622 GMT) an altitude of 3225 feet with a speed of 376 knots.

It had been due to land at 3:05 p.m. (0705 GMT).

The safety record of China’s airline industry has been among the best in the world over the past decade.

According to Aviation Safety Network, China’s last fatal jet accident was in 2010, when 44 of 96 people on board were killed when an Embraer E-190 regional jet flown by Henan Airlines crashed on approach to Yichun airport in low visibility.