WUZHOU, China (AP) — Rugged terrain and rain on Wednesday made it difficult to find clues as to why a plane from China Eastern fell inexplicably from the sky and crashed into the side of a wooded mountain a few days ago, presumably killing all 132 people on board.
Under rainy conditions, rescuers used hand tools, drones and sniffer dogs to check the crash site and a debris field that stretches steep and heavily forested slopes in southern China in search of the black boxes containing flight data and cockpit voice recorders, as well as any human remains.
Videos published by China's state media showed small parts of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft scattered throughout the area, some in green fields, others in areas burned with the earth exposed. Wallets, bank cards and identity cards stained with mud have also been recovered.
Investigators said it is too early to speculate on the cause of the accident. Flight 5735 began a dizzying descent an hour after taking off and the aircraft stopped transmitting data 96 seconds after it began its fall.
It crashed on Monday near the city of Wuzhou, in the Guangxi region. The plane was flying from Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, towards Guangzhou, an industrial hub not far from Hong Kong on the southeastern coast of China.
An air traffic controller tried to contact the pilots several times after seeing the plane's altitude drop sharply, but he got no response, Zhu Tao, director of the Air Safety Bureau of the Civil Aviation Authority of China, said Tuesday at a press conference.
“So far, rescue efforts have not found any survivors,” Zhu said. “The Department of Public Safety has taken control of the site.”