A child died on Wednesday after falling from the landing gear of a passenger jet during take-off in northwest China's Gansu Province, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
The boy, estimated to be aged about 10, fell from the undercarriage of a China Eastern Airlines A320 plane when it was taking off from Dunhuang Airport at 7:50 AM.
The plane continued its flight after the accident and safely landed at Lanzhou, the provincial capital, at about 9:14 AM.
A local hospital said the boy was from Dunhuang, a tourist resort known for its Buddhist grottoes.
The Gansu branch of the airlines said the landing gear is usually disengaged at about 15 meters above the ground and the boy might have fallen out of the plane at that height.
CAAC officials blamed the incident on loose safety measures at the airport and a special investigation team has been dispatched to the site of the tragedy.
(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2005)
