A PASSENGER plane carrying 132 has crashed into a mountainside - with horror footage showing smouldering wreckage.

       The Boeing 737 flown by China Eastern Airlines came down in Guangxi, China, on Monday, state media said.

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       The crash happened in Guangxi Credit: Twitter 4

       Smoke can be seen coming from the wreckage Credit: Twitter 4

       The crash happened on Monday morning near the city of Wuzhou Credit: Twitter 4

       The passenger jet crashed into a mountain Credit: Twitter

       The passenger jet was heading to Guangzhou from Kunming and was carrying 9 crew members and 123 passengers.

       Broadcaster CCTV said the accident involving the China Eastern 737 occurred near the city of Wuzhou in Teng county.

       It said rescuers had been dispatched and there was no immediate word on the numbers of dead and injured.

       According to state media, the crash caused a wildfire.

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       Harrowing images show large pieces of the plane scattered on the ground while a blaze can be seen in the background.

       The Aviation Safety Network tweeted: "We are following multiple unconfirmed reports about a possible accident involving China Eastern Airlines flight #MU5735 a Boeing 737-89P (B-1791) en route from Kunming to Guanghzou, China."

       China's Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a statement: "The CAAC has activated the emergency mechanism and sent a working group to the scene.

       The China Eastern flight departed at 1:11 pm (0511 GMT), FlightRadar24 data showed and had been due to land at 3:05 p.m. (0705 GMT).

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       The flight-tracking ended at 2:22 pm (0622 GMT).

       The plane stopped transmitting data just southwest of the Chinese city of Wuzhou.

       The aircraft was delivered to China Eastern from Boeing in June 2015 and had been flying for over six years.