All 132 Aboard China Eastern Plane Declared Dead, Sombre Memorial Held At Crash Site

Search Personnel Observe 3-Minute Silence As They Mourn The Dead

When a China Eastern Airlines plane shockingly crashed almost 1 week ago, many were hoping against hope that somebody would survive.

That’s why rescuers had been scouring the crash site for days, praying for a miracle.

However, their worst fears were confirmed when all 132 people on board were declared dead.

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A sombre memorial was held at the site following the sad news.

123 passengers & 9 crew perished

The crushing announcement was made on Saturday (26 Mar) night by Civil Aviation Administration of China deputy head Hu Zhenjiang, reported China’s Xinhua News Agency.

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He confirmed with great sadness that all 123 passengers and nine crew members who were on board flight MU5735 had died on 21 Mar, when the plane inexplicably crashed into a forested area in Guangxi Province.

120 victims have already been identified via their DNA, and he expressed deep sympathy to the bereaved families.

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Mr Hu and the journalists present then observed a minute of silence for the deceased, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA).

Victims remembered

The day after the announcement, search and emergency response teams at the crash site paused to remember the victims of the tragedy.

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At about 2pm on Sunday (27 Mar), horns blared at the mountainous area in Tengxian County.

All personnel then stood in silence for 3 minutes.

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The sombre yet touching scene, complete with flowers, was a fitting tribute to the deceased.

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In other parts of the country, religious rites were held for the victims.

A Taoist ceremony set up in Guangzhou Chunyang Temple to mourn the victims
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Teams still at site searching for clues

Since the crash, the teams have been at the site digging for clues to the mystery.

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So far, they’ve distressingly found human remains, as well as personal belongings of the victims.

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A lot of debris from the aircraft has also been found.

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2nd black box found

However, the most important find was probably that of the 2nd black box, which was uncovered on Sunday (27 Mar).

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The device – the flight data recorder’s storage unit – was found at about 9.20am buried under 1.5m of soil, reported the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Though most parts suffered severe damage, the storage unit exterior is in fairly good condition.

The discovery could help understand why the plane plunged almost vertically from a cruising altitude of about 8,869m.

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The 1st black box – the cockpit voice recorder – was retrieved on Wednesday (23 Mar). It has been sent to Beijing for decoding.

Personnel teams will keep looking for remains and plane wreckage, the head of the rescue operation said on Sunday (27 Mar), reported Xinhua.

Hope the truth will come to light soon

After no survivors were found 30 hours into the crash, the hope of finding any at all was always going to be slim.

Nonetheless, we hope searchers will preserve to find any evidence that could shed light on what happened to the plane.

This will provide much-needed closure for the family members of the deceased.

MS News sends our deepest condolences to all their loved ones.

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Featured images adapted from China Xinhua News on Twitter and People’s Daily, China on Twitter.