Chinese president calls for prompt, impartial investigation into plane crash
The Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Political Bureau headed by President Xi Jinping on Thursday demanded that the cause of the China Eastern Airlines crash be determined as soon as possible and that the information be released in a transparent, accurate and timely manner.
The seven-member committee, which is China's top decision-making body, also stressed the importance of safety in the workplace, and said development should not be at the expense of safety, Bloomberg News Agency quoted Xinhua as saying.
The Chinese leader said that in the event of any incident due to "failure to carry out responsibilities", then "the relevant leaders must also be seriously held accountable."
Major search and rescue efforts have been completed at the site where the plane crashed last week into a hillside in southern China, killing all 132 people on board.
At a press conference Thursday in Wuzhou, near the crash site of the Boeing 737-800NG on March 21, Zhang Zhiwen, a senior official in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in which the plane went down, said that more than 49 thousand pieces of wreckage during the search process.
Officials said earlier that DNA-matching checks had been completed and everyone on board had been identified.
Investigators will try to piece together the items to get a picture of the last moments before the crash by reviewing the trajectory, altitude, impact force and air traffic data.
The plane's two black boxes have already been recovered and sent to Beijing for analysis.
An initial report is issued within 30 days of the accident, as required by United Nations standards governing the aviation sector, but it will not include any conclusions about the cause of the accident.
A full report is expected within 12 months.
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