Chinese Plane Crashes Into Sea; at Least 50 die

[dbaker]

Chinese Plane Crashes Into Sea; at Least 50 die

BEIJING (Reuters) - At least 50 people died when a China Northern Airlines plane crashed into the sea off the northeastern city of Dalian and there was little hope of any of the other 62 people aboard surviving, Xinhua said Wednesday.

The official news agency said rescuers pulled 50 bodies from the water after the MD-82 aircraft crashed six miles off the coast about eight minutes after the captain reported a fire in the cabin.

[dbaker]

Airliner crashes in China

The agency said the plane crashed after the captain reported a fire in the cabin. Local officials said more than 30 boats have been dispatched to the Dalian Bay area in search of survivors.

This is China Northern's second crash. Their first was also a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 that crashed in Urumqui, China in 1993. 12 of the 102 on board were killed.