Dhaka: A China Eastern Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 with 132 people on board crashed in the mountains in southern China on March 21. The accident occurred after a sudden plunge from cruising altitude at about the time when it would normally start to descend ahead of its landing.

According to reports, there were no signs of survivors on the domestic flight.

The airline in a statement deeply mourned the passengers and crew, without specifying how many people had been killed on the jet, an earlier model to the 737 MAX with a strong safety record.

Boeing said it was ready to assist China Eastern and was in contact with US transportation safety regulators over the incident.

The flight MU5735 was en route from the southwestern city of Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, bordering Hong Kong, when it crashed.

China Eastern said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

Investigators will be scouring the wreckage and flight recorders for factors that could have caused the plane to plummet vertically and slam into the mountains at high speed.

The airline said it had sent a working group to the site. There were no foreigners on the flight, said reports, citing China Eastern.

Relatives, friends and colleagues of passengers gathered late on March 21 in a cordoned off area at the jet's destination, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

China Eastern staff were making arrangements for relatives who wished to travel to the crash site on March 22.