Main impact site of airliner crash found

The main impact site of the crashed China Eastern Airlines passenger jet has been located and over 180 pieces of wreckage have been found, authorities said on Thursday.

Most wreckage is scattered within 30 meters of the main point and some are buried up to 20 meters underground, said Zhu Tao, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China's aviation safety office, in a news conference on Thursday.

Among the big pieces that have been found are engine fan blades and turbines, he noted. Investigators have also found remnants of items from the cockpit, including escape ropes and operations manuals.

Flight MU5735 left Kunming, the Yunnan provincial capital, at 1:11 pm on Monday and was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, at 3:05 pm. It crashed in Tengxian county in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region at around 2:20 pm.

The flight was carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members, all Chinese nationals. No survivors have yet been found.

Zheng Xi, head of the Guangxi Fire and Rescue Brigade, said rescuers have found 183 pieces of wreckage and 21 pieces of victims' belongings as of 4 pm Thursday. Some human remains were also found.

All discoveries have been handed to investigation teams, he said.