40 feared dead in China air crash

A Chinese military transport aircraft with at least 40 people on board has crashed in the eastern province of Anhui.

The Xinhua news agency said on Sunday that there was no information about casualties. But villagers who went to the scene said they had found no one alive after the aircraft crashed and broke up on Saturday in hills in Guangde county, about 200km west of Shanghai.
   
One villager said he had seen about five to seven bodies in the wreckage.

A woman whose husband joined rescue efforts said: “Body parts were scattered around the hill and only a few bodies were left intact.”

Troops later sealed off the scene, villagers said.

Military officials could not be reached for comment.

A county official said military investigators were looking for the aircraft’s flight data recorder but had no comment on casualties.
   
Xinhua’s brief report said a “work group” from Beijing had arrived at the scene to organise rescue operations.

Source: Reuters