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A Boeing 737 operated by China Eastern Airlines crashed in the southern province of Guangxi. Officials said there were 123 passengers and nine crew members on the flight.
Around a thousand firefighters and hundreds of rescue workers were dispatched to the site in a heavily-wooded area in the mountains. There are no signs of survivors. Search and rescue efforts were hampered by the crash site's remote location and a band of storms that formed after the crash.
According to data from FlightRadar24.com, the plane was traveling at a speed of 523 mph at 30,000 feet when it started to rapidly lose altitude. The aircraft plummeted over 20,000 in a span of three minutes. Then, it briefly regained altitude before it crashed. Weather conditions at the time did not appear to be a factor in the crash, according to the New York Times.
Witnesses described watching the aircraft nosedive towards the ground.
"The plane fell vertically from the sky. Although I was very far away, I could still see that it was a plane. The plane did not smoke during the fall. The fire started after it fell into the mountain, followed by a lot of smoke," a witness said, according to CNN.
"My heart was thumping. I immediately informed friends about the situation, that this area is dangerous and not to come nearby," he continued.
Officials have not said what caused the crash.
"The cause of the plane crash is still under investigation. The company expresses its sorrowful condolences to the passengers and crew members who died in this plane crash," China Eastern said in a statement.