55 die in China plane crashes

55 die in China plane crashes

A China Eastern commuter plane crashed into a frozen lake seconds
after takeoff in Inner Mongolia on Sunday, killing 53 people on
board, including an Indonesian, and one on the ground, the
airline and state media said.

"Witnesses said that the plane broke into flaming fragments, a
house beside the park was damaged by the falling aircraft and
several yachts nearby were scorched," Xinhua news agency said.

It quoted one witness as saying the plane was trailing black
smoke and rocking violently when there was an explosion and the
plane crashed and broke apart.

Xinhua said the plane smashed through a park ticket office and
state television said one person on the ground was killed. It
earlier said two.

The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ200, flown by two pilots, took
off from the industrial city of Baotou, nearly 600 km west of
Beijing, en route to eastern Shanghai, China Eastern Airlines
Corp. Ltd. said on its website.

State television showed pictures of rescuers pulling debris
from below the broken ice (photo above). The remains of 46
victims had been found but not the black box flight recorders,
Xinhua said. Police cordoned off the park, two kilometer from the
runway.

The weather was clear, with the temperature around 6 to 7
degrees Celsius, when the plane, operated by a unit of China
Eastern Yunnan Branch Co. crashed into the giant lake in Nanhai
Park at 8.20 a.m. (7:20 a.m in Jakarta), an airport official
said.

The fire was put out at the lake and more than 400 people,
including firefighters, police officers, park staff and a 20-
member diving team from Baotou Iron and Steel, a major steel
producer, joined the rescue work.
-- Reuters