Jakarta (ANTARA) - Speaker of the House of Representatives Puan Maharani expressed her condolences over the China Eastern Airlines plane accident to the delegation of the Chinese Parliament during the 144th Assembly Session of the IPU in Bali on Tuesday.

Maharani also compelled the delegates to offer a moment of silence to pray for the victims of the plane crash.

"We pray for the best for the passengers and crew of the plane. Hopefully, the evacuation process would run smoothly," Maharani affirmed.

China Eastern Airlines plane crashed over the hills of the Guangxi Autonomous Region on Monday, March 21.

Flight data shows flight number MU-5735 from Kunming to Guangzhou disappeared from radar, two minutes after the plane's altitude suddenly dropped from 8,869 meters.

It was speculated that the 132 passengers and crew on board have died.

It was China's worst aviation tragedy since the 2010 plane crash in Yichun, Heilongjiang Province, northeastern China, which claimed 44 lives.

Shortly after the incident, President of China Xi Jinping promptly issued an emergency action instruction. He ordered his administration to immediately conduct emergency response actions, expedite search and rescue efforts, and take appropriate action after the incident.

The Indonesian Embassy in Beijing and the Indonesian Consulate General in Guangzhou have also coordinated to seek data on the plane crash victims.

"We continue to (follow the news on) the incident this afternoon. We continue to coordinate with the Indonesian Consulate General in GZ (Guangzhou)," Deputy Head of the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing, Dino R. Kusnadi, noted.

Kusnadi pointed out that the Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) had yet to release the passenger data as per Monday.

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Translator: Genta T M, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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