Support provided for families following fatal crash

Assistance with issues such as accommodation, traffic, pandemic control and psychological counseling have been provided for all 110 families of passengers on China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 after the plane crashed on Monday, Shangguan Xuemin, a manager from the airline, has said.

Shangguan, manager of the airlines' client committee, told a news conference on Wednesday that family members of all 123 passengers have been contacted, adding that the relatives are receiving support of various kinds from more than 300 staff.

The jet carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members left Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, at 1:11 pm on Monday, bound for Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province. Air traffic controllers lost track of the plane over Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Shangguan said offering assistance was an extremely important job, adding that the company has established centers to offer help for relatives in Kunming, Guangzhou and those who arrived at Wuzhou.

"As of Wednesday afternoon, we've provided accommodation and traffic services in Wuzhou and Kunming for nearly 300 family members of 71 passengers," he said.

The temperature began decreasing in Wuzhou on Wednesday afternoon, "so we've prepared warm clothes for those relatives," he said.

The authorities in places where the passengers came from have also helped provided support for relatives, he added.