Turbulence on Paris-China flight injures 26

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.

BBC NEWS