Society

More than 40 rescued from crashed passenger plane in NE China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-25 02:08

HARBIN - More than 40 people were rescued and sent to hospitals after a passenger plane with more than 90 crew and passengers on board crashed during landing in a northeast China city late Tuesday, officials with Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said.

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The ill-fated aircraft of Henan Airlines crashed at the airport of Yichun, Heilongjiang province, at 9:36 pm Tuesday. There were 91 passengers, including five children, and five crew members on board, the CAAC source said.

A 20-men strong team of CAAC officials and technicians are leaving for Yichun to participate in the rescue and investigation.

The plane left the provincial capital Harbin at about 8:51 pm.

The jet was engulfed in blaze after it crashed. A heavy fog blanketed the airport.

A vice mayor of Yichun told media that most of the injured hospitalized do not have life-threatening conditions.

Rescue efforts for others continue.

Initial data show the jet is an E-190 jet, manufactured by the Brazilian aerospace conglomerate Embraer. It is not immediately known how the plane crashed.