China Eastern Airlines crash: families await grim news as rescuers sift through wreckage

State media report no survivors after a Boeing 737-800 flight crashed into mountainous terrain with 132 on board

About an hour into its journey from Kunming to Gaungzhou, flight MU5735 fell out of the air. After cruising at an altitude of 29,100ft, it suddenly dropped to about 7,000ft where it briefly ascended before diving again and crashing into remote bamboo forest in the mountains near Wuzhou. The fall appears to have taken around two minutes, according to flight tracking data.

The plane did not smoke during the fall," a witness told the Beijing Youth Daily. The fire started after it fell into the mountain, followed by a lot of smoke."