A passenger plane with 132 people on board crashed in southern China on Monday.

After a rescue operation at the crash site, state media now state that no one has survived the crash.

"The wreckage of the plane was found at the scene, but so far none of those on board the plane have been found," said state television station CCTV.

The aircraft, of the model Boeing 737-800, took off from Kunming north of the border with Vietnam and was on its way to the city of millions in Guangzhou (Canton) when it crashed from a hitherto unknown reason from an altitude of 9000 meters.

According to the tracking site FlightRadar24, flight MU5735 first lost speed and then lost altitude in a sharp dive.

One and a half minutes later, the plane's signals went silent.

The crash caused a fire that could be seen by NASA satellites and created a large hole in the mountainside, according to the state of New China.