The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAA) has confirmed a China Eastern Airlines plane carrying 132 people on board has crashed in Guangxi province.

According to officials, there were 123 passengers and nine crew members on board.

The number of casualties and reason for the crash are not yet known.

The Boeing 737-800 jet crashed in a mountainous region in Wuzhou, with the explosion setting off a fire in the woods, reported state media.

Rescue crews have been deployed to the area.

The CAA said they had also dispatched personnel to the scene.

Flight MU5735 left Kunming at 13:11 local time (05:11 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou at 15:05.

According to data from Cirium, there are 4,208 passenger Boeing 737-800 planes in service today.

China is in fact the largest country for this aircraft type, with over 1,177 Boeing 737-800 aircraft based in the country.