Xi chairs CPC leadership meeting on plane crash emergency response

BEIJING -- The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Thursday held a meeting to hear a report on the emergency response to the recent China Eastern Airlines plane crash.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired the meeting, which made deployment for follow-up work.

After the plane crash, Xi had ordered the immediate launch of emergency response, all-out search and rescue efforts, and proper settlement in the aftermath, urging efforts to identify the cause of the crash, console the victims' families and provide them with assistance, the meeting noted.

Relevant departments have acted on the instruction swiftly to mobilize forces in areas including civil aviation and emergency response to carry out related work, said the meeting.

Currently, aftermath settlement and cause investigation are in orderly progress, according to the meeting.

It called for putting the people and their lives first in the handling of the aftermath of the incident, which killed 132 people on board.

The ensuing work, including identification and return of the remains of the victims, should be well conducted, the meeting said.

Investigations should be carried out in a scientific and orderly manner, while experts should be organized to comprehensively analyze aircraft data and various evidence to find out the cause and nature of the incident as soon as possible, the meeting said.

Meanwhile, related information releases should be timely, accurate, open, and transparent to respond to public concerns.

The meeting reiterated that development should never come at the cost of safety, urging related parties to draw lessons from the incident and conduct nationwide inspections on production safety.

If any incident happens due to lack of responsibility, insufficient measures, or ostensible rectification, those who are directly responsible as well as relevant leaders will be held accountable, according to the meeting.