China Eastern airliner with 132 on board crashes in southern China, state media says

(Image credit: Costfoto/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

published 21 March 2022

A China Eastern airliner with 132 people on board crashed in southern Guangxi province on Monday, state broadcaster CCTV reports. The Boeing 373, apparently Flight MU5735 from Kunming to Guangzhou, crashed in mountains near the city of Wuzhou. There has been no news on casualties. According to FlightRadar24, the aircraft rapidly lost speed and entered a sharp descent before it stopped transmitting data at 2:22 p.m. local time.

China's airline industry has among the best safety records in the world, Reuters reports. The Boeing 737-800 airplane that reportedly crashed Monday had been flying for six years. China's last fatal civilian air crash was in 2010, when 44 of 96 people aboard a Henan Airlines Ebraer E-19 crashed at Yichun's airport.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.