From the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4029569.stm A passenger plane with 47 people aboard has crashed in northern China, the state-run Xinhua news agency reports. It says chances are slim of anyone surviving the crash near the city of Baotou in the Inner Mongolia region. The incident happened just after the Shanghai-bound flight took off, the agency says. An official with China's Civil Aviation Authority confirmed the crash, the AFP news agency reported. The cause of the crash is unknown. The Chine Eastern plane plunged into a lake near the airport at about 0820 local time (0020 GMT), Xinhua said. It quoted its reporter at the scene as saying that firefighters were putting out a huge fire, while rescuers tried to salvage bodies from the wreckage. "The cause of the crash is still under investigation. We're gathering passenger information at the moment," an official with China Eastern's office in Baotou told AFP.