Pakistani FM extends sympathy over Chinese passenger plane crash

ISLAMABAD, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday extended deep sadness and sympathy over the Chinese passenger plane crash to visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Qureshi, on behalf of the Pakistani government, offered deep condolences and sympathy to the bereaved Chinese families in the incident while meeting Wang here on Monday.

While expressing gratitude to Qureshi, Wang said the Chinese government and people feel deeply sad about the air crash, adding that the Chinese aviation has been among the world's safest ones, and that the Chinese authorities are sparing no effort in the search and rescue operations and will find out the cause of the crash as soon as possible.

Wang arrived in the Pakistani capital on Monday to attend the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in Islamabad, and for a visit to Pakistan.

A China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane with 132 people aboard on a domestic flight crashed in southern China on Monday afternoon.