| Submit your comments on this article |
| China-Japan-Koreas |
| No evidence of terrorism In Chinese plane crash |
| 2004-11-22 |
| Investigators have reportedly failed to find evidence of terrorism in the explosion of an airliner in China which killed 54 people. The airliner, which crashed in northern China, exploded seconds after takeoff and "broke into flaming fragments" before plunging into an ice-covered lake, reports said. Divers searched the lake for the black box flight data recorders of the Bombardier CRJ-200 belonging to China Eastern Airlines, which went down after taking off from the northern city of Baotou on a flight to Shanghai. Investigators sent from Beijing hadn't determined the cause of the crash but found no evidence of terrorism, state television said. The government grounded all CJR-200s in China following the crash, the country's deadliest airline disaster in two years. Among the dead was the president of one of China's biggest software companies, news reports said. Witnesses said the Canadian-built plane began to shake after takeoff, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. They heard a loud bang and "the plane broke into flaming fragments," then hit the lake, spreading burning oil across the icy surface, the report said. All 47 passengers and six crew members aboard were killed, as well as one person on the ground. One passenger was Indonesian and the rest were Chinese. Rescue workers had to break through the ice of the lake to retrieve the bodies, Xinhua said. The dead included Chen Suyang, president of Fudan Forward Co, a software maker affiliated with elite Fudan University in Shanghai, news reports said. An employee of the company, who wouldn't give his name, confirmed that Chen was on the flight. The disaster marred intensive official efforts to improve China's air safety following a string of deadly crashes in the 1990s. Shanghai-based China Eastern planned to fly relatives of the dead to Baotou, airline official Li Jiang said. Li said he had no additional information about the crash or the airline's response. |
| Posted by:God Save The World |
| #2 Check in periodically then, Gromky, please, so that we'll know when to start worrying about you. (Pretty much the same deal I have with my husband when he's on the road.) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-11-22 7:54:07 PM |
| #1 It's always fun when an airline that you travel with frequently has a crash. A new experience for me. |
| Posted by: gromky 2004-11-22 10:16:59 AM |