Boeing 737 passenger jet carrying 133 people crashes into mountains in rural China

A Chinese airliner with 132 people on board has crashed in the southern province of Guangxi, erupting in a horror fireball across a mountain.

The China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 plummeted rapidly then appeared to have smashed into the hillside near the city of Wuzhou in Teng county.

Local media reported rescuers had been dispatched but there was no immediate confirmation of the numbers of dead and injured.

Shocking CCTV footage emerged on social media supposedly showing the jet racing vertically towards the ground in the moments before the smash.

The plane, flight number MU5735 from Kunming to Guangzhou, is believed to be a Boeing 737-89P, not part of the MAX series which has been dogged by problems in recent years.