All 132 people on board China's crashed plane dead, official says
All 132 people - 123 passengers and nine crew members - onboard the China Eastern Airlines jet that crashed on Monday in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region are dead, a senior official of Civil Aviation Administration of China said on Saturday night.
Despite of the intensive search and rescue operations since Monday, there has been no sign of life at the crash site, Hu Zhenjiang, deputy head of Civil Aviation Administration of China, said at a news conference held in Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
"We have analyzed surveillance video footages, air traffic control data and the pattern of the debris at the crash site. We can be certain that there are no survivors" he said.
"With a heavy heart and deep sadness, we are here to announce that the 123 passengers and nine crew members onboard China Eastern Flight MU5735 have all lost their life."
After the announcement, people attending the news conference observed a minute's silence to mourn for the victims.
Hu said the search and rescue teams will continue to look for the victims, their remains, belongings and debris of the aircraft to show respect to life and be responsible to the victims' relatives. Also, the findings at the crash site are key for the tragedy's investigations.
China Eastern Flight MU5735 left Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, at 1:11 pm Monday. It was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, at 3:05 pm. Air traffic controllers lost track of the plane over Wuzhou at 2:21 pm.
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