The search and rescue operation for remains and black boxes was temporarily suspended on Wednesday due to rain.

So far no survivors have been found after a plane carrying 132 people crashed in southern China, authorities said on Tuesday night.

“As of now, the rescue has yet to find survivors. The public security department has taken control of the site,” Zhu Tao, director of the Office of Aviation Safety at the Civil Aviation Authority of China, said at a

news conference.

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A witness described seeing the jet nosedive and hit the ground – while another heard a bang “like thunder”. It is one of the country’s worst air disasters in years.

One woman said six of her family members and friends had been on the flight. They were on the way to a funeral. “I feel very anguished,” she said.

Smoke could be seen rising from a mountainside near the city of Wuzhou, Teng county after the Boeing 737-800 dropped 30,000ft in two minutes.

China Eastern Airlines has grounded its entire Boeing 737-800 fleet and President Xi Jinping has ordered an investigation.

Black Boxes