Many hurt in China flight turbulence

At least 26 people were injured, four seriously, when turbulence hit a China Eastern Airlines flight from Paris on Sunday, state media reports.

The turbulence struck as flight MU774 was on its way to
Kunming, in the southern Yunnan province.

Passengers suffered broken bones, cuts to the scalp 
and soft tissue injuries, the Xinhua state news agency reported.

China Eastern Airlines later said it was crucial passengers wear seatbelts as flights descend.

"I was on the flight, and I felt like I would not survive," the 
Hong Kong- based South China Morning Post quoted one passenger as saying on the Weibo microblogging site.

"Many people were injured, and among them, many had not
buckled up."

Xinhua said (in Chinese) that two violent bumps and 
many small bumps occurred over about 10 minutes.
It said that during the turbulence, several passengers' 
heads and shoulders collided with the luggage racks, some luggage racks broke from the impact, and some luggage fell off the racks and hit customers.

The airline said on its Weibo account (in Chinese) that 
the Airbus A330, that had taken off from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, landed safely in Kunming.

A week ago, a China Eastern Airlines flight to Shanghai 
had to turn back to Sydney after a technical failure which 
left a hole in an engine casing .

The pilot reported problems with the engine of the plane, another Airbus A330, about one hour after taking off. Passengers told media they smelt something burning 
inside the aircraft.