China
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin signs telegram sent to Chinese President Xi Jinping
Rescuers work near the site where China Eastern flight MU5375 crashed on March 21 near Wuzhou in southwestern China’s Guangxi province on March 24. (Photo: Noel Celis/AFP)
Pope Francis has sent a condolence message to Chinese President Xi Jinping offering prayers for all affected by a plane crash suspected to have killed all 132 people on board in southern China.
In what is considered the worst Chinese air accident in two decades, the flight from the southwestern city of Kunming to the eastern city of Guangzhou went down and ploughed into rugged terrain near Wuzhou in southern China on March 21.
Four days after the accident, officials have yet to declare all of the 123 passengers and nine crew dead. However, they have also not reported any sign of survivors.
Thank you. You are now signed up to Daily newsletter
SIGN UP NOW!
Stay up to date Don’t miss out on the latest News
The pope said he “is saddened by the news” and “is praying for those who have lost their lives and for the consolation of those who grieve them,” Vatican News said in a report.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin signed the telegram on behalf of the pope, the report said.
Cardinal Joseph Zen, retired bishop of Hong Kong, also offered prayers for the victims of the crash in a Twitter message on March 22. “I pray for all the victims of the plane crash in China … May the Lord grant them eternal peace,” he said.
Officials said human remains have been found, but on the ground searchers have not ruled out finding survivors trapped on the densely forested, mud-slicked slopes
Recovery teams deployed drones and thermal imaging equipment today across the mountainous area where the China Eastern plane inexplicably crashed.
The velocity of the crash cut deep wounds into the muddy ground and scattered plane parts and passenger belongings across a vast area, dashing hopes of finding survivors in what will almost certainly be China’s worst air crash in three decades.
Wiping tears from her eyes, her arms supported by two men, a distraught relative arrived at the entrance point to the crash area today, according to an AFP reporter.
Under pouring rain, she joined scores of firefighters, paramilitary police and reporters to trudge across the rough terrain to where eviscerated chunks of jet have been found.
On March 23, officials said human remains have been found, but on the ground searchers have not ruled out finding survivors trapped on the densely forested, mud-slicked slopes.
The “mission is mainly focused on searching for victims and saving lives,” Huang Shangwu of Guangxi Fire and Rescue Force told reporters, citing instructions “from headquarters.”
“We are using thermal imagers and life detectors to search the surface … we also use manual searches and aerial drones,” he added.
Teams are scouring the landscape for the aircraft’s remaining black box after a damaged voice recorder was recovered on March 23 and sent to Beijing for analysis.
“We are working with the Department of State to address those issues with the Chinese government before any travel will be determined”
Experts hope it will yield clues to the cause of the crash, which saw the Boeing plane drop tens of thousands of feet in just minutes.
Tracking website FlightRadar24 showed the plane rapidly dropped from 29,100 to 7,850 feet of altitude in just over a minute.
The stricken jet was equipped with two recorders: the cockpit voice recorder and the other one in the rear passenger cabin tracking flight data.
The crash provoked an unusually swift public response from President Xi, who ordered a probe into its cause as aviation authorities vowed an extensive two-week check-up of China’s vast passenger fleet.
The safety message has rippled out across sectors after the MU5735 crash. A notice from the State Council and Ministry of Emergency Management called for industries across the board to “rectify potential safety hazards”.
US officials — Boeing is an American company — were also waiting for clearance to enter China, according to the US National Transportation Safety Board.
“We are working with the Department of State to address those issues with the Chinese government before any travel will be determined,” it told AFP.
Aviation authorities have said the captain of the ill-fated jet had more than 6,700 hours of flight experience and the first co-pilot had more than 31,000 hours of flight time.
There was a second co-pilot on board with more than 550 hours of flight time. All three were in good health with no known personal problems.
Latest News
Credit: Source link
