Muddy conditions hamper search for China Eastern wreckage
ABC News
Construction excavators have dug into a crash site in the search for wreckage, remains and the second black box from a China Eastern 737-800 that nosedived into a mountainside in southern China this week with 132 people on board
BEIJING -- Construction excavators dug into a crash site Saturday in the search for wreckage, remains and the second black box from a China Eastern 737-800 that nosedived into a mountainside in southern China this week with 132 people on board.
Workers wearing knee-high rubber boots used shovels and other hand tools to sift through the earthen slopes in a 20-meter- (65-foot-) deep pit left by the plane. Debris and other items were collected in dozens of rectangular, mud-stained plastic containers.
Pumps were used to drain water as muddy conditions in the rainy Guizhou region hampered the search. One excavator stopped working after getting partially stuck, state broadcaster CCTV said.
No survivors have been found, and the cause of the crash remained a mystery. An air traffic controller tried to contact the pilots several times after seeing the plane’s altitude drop sharply but got no reply, officials have said.
