The crash site is in forest near Tengxian county's Molang village. In the afternoon, fire and rescue teams discovered aircraft debris scattered in the forest. No remains of passengers had been found, according to the Guangxi Regional Emergency Management Bureau's fire and rescue department.

A forest fire caused by the plane crash has been put out, Ou Ling, political commissar of the Wuzhou Fire and Rescue Brigade, told CCTV.

"A total of 622 firefighters have arrived at the scene, which is surrounded by mountains on three sides. There is only a narrow road that leads to the site, so heavy vehicles and machinery still can't get in," Ou said.

"Also, it's difficult to carry out search and rescue work at night when the electricity supply isn't stable . … We are drawing up a practical plan to ensure that the search and rescue work can be carried out efficiently."

More than 640 firefighters from nearby Yunnan and Guangdong provinces were dispatched to the crash site. Police officers and members of the People's Armed Police Force were also sent to the crash scene for search and rescue work, according to local authorities.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Ministry of Emergency Management have sent task forces to the site to help with the rescue efforts.

Heavy rainfall was forecast for Monday night and Tuesday, according to the provincial meteorological department, which may hinder search and rescue work.

China has had a good air safety record over the past 4,227 days. The country's last major plane accident was in August 2010 in Heilongjiang province, when a flight from Harbin crashed in Yichun, killing 44 people.

China Eastern has grayed out its logo on its Weibo account and also changed its website to black and white-a sign of mourning after the crash was confirmed.

The airline's work group was also dispatched to the scene. A hotline has been opened for relatives of the passengers, while a gathering area for them was set up at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

Li Yingqing in Kunming and Shi Ruipeng in Nanning contributed to this story.