Fifty-four people were killed on Sunday when a plane crashed into a lake shortly after take-off, apparently after a blast, in China's deadliest aviation disaster in two years, witnesses and state media said. China Eastern's flight MU-5210 bound for Shanghai plunged into an icy lake in Nanhai Park just seconds after leaving Baotou city in the northern Inner Mongolia region at 8:20 am (0020 GMT), the Xinhua news agency reported. Earlier reports said there might have been a second victim on the ground. One of the 47 passengers on board the plane was identified as an Indonesian national, Xinhua reported on its website. "Apparently, there was a foreigner on board," a China Eastern staff member told AFP by telephone from Baotou. Some witnesses said an explosion caused a huge fireball on the plane when it reached a height of 100 metres, Xinhua said. Wang Yongqiang, who lives near the lake, told the agency he heard a loud blast before the plane fell to the ground, disintegrating into burning parts. State television showed footage of scorched wreckage sticking out of the surface of the lake and rescue workers pulling what appeared to be a body from the water.
Plane explodes + Moslem onboard = You decide! |