Rescuers clear landslide debris at S. China plane crash site

By 11 am on March 24, 2022, rescuers had cleared landslide debris at the site where a plane with 132 people on board crashed on Monday. (SCREENSHOT FROM CCTV NEWS)

NANNING/BEIJING – Rescuers have been braving the rain to clear landslide debris and waterlogging while continuing the search and rescue work at the site in south China where a passenger plane crashed on Monday with 132 people on board. 

It has been raining continuously since Wednesday evening in the mountainous area of Tengxian County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft crashed. The aircraft was carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members. 

One black box of the China Eastern jet that crashed on Monday was found on Wednesday. In addition, human tissue was found at the crash site. 

READ MORE: Chinese rescuers find crashed aircraft's black box

By 11 am on Thursday, rescuers had cleared landslide debris, but the rain-soaked soil continued to make travel on foot difficult.  

The Ministry of Emergency Management said it will take immediate action to eliminate safety hazards in the civil aviation sector

The rescuers have laid bamboo frames on the ground to facilitate the rescue work. 

In the core area of the accident site, excavators and other equipment are ready to resume work. 

At 8 am on Thursday, the regional meteorological bureau forecast small to moderate rainfall in Tengxian over the next 12 hours, with accumulated rainfall of 5 to 8 mm and a temperature of 12 to 18 degrees Celsius. 

The weather is expected to continue to adversely affect the rescue work. 

Ministry vows to curb safety hazards 

The Ministry of Emergency Management said on Thursday that it will take immediate action to eliminate safety hazards in the civil aviation sector as rescue efforts continue following a recent plane crash. 

Together with the office of the State Council's Work Safety Committee, the ministry has issued a statement asking local authorities, government bodies and institutions to learn from the accident and make all-out efforts to rule out safety hazards in different sectors. 

ALSO READ: Parts of wreckage, human remains found at plane crash site

They should "resolutely curb the occurrence of especially serious accidents", the ministry said in a media release. 

Rescue workers carry food for rescuers in Molang village of Tengxian county, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, March 23, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

In China, such accidents usually refer to those that claim more than 30 lives, seriously injure over 100 people or cause economic losses that exceed 100 million yuan ($15.7 million). 

Action should be taken immediately in the aviation sector, the release said. Furthermore, all hazards should be rectified in a timely manner adhering to a "dynamic clearing strategy". 

Companies with outstanding problems will receive administrative penalties, it said. Under certain circumstances, the ministry will dispatch work groups to help them rectify problems, and their violations will be made public. 

The statement also urged civil aviation companies to establish or improve their major risk control mechanisms and beef up their risk control capabilities in all work procedures to ensure "absolute safety".