NANNING — Search work at the site of the recent plane crash in South China is continuing after the second black box was found on March 27, an official said at a press briefing on the afternoon of March 28.

As of noon on March 28, a total of 15,640 people had been sent to search the core site and surrounding areas of the plane crash, covering around 370,000 square meters, said Zhu Tao, head of the aviation safety office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

A total of 36,001 pieces of plane wreckage and parts have been recovered, he added.

At the exterior of the core site, five drone search groups have also been added to aid the search, covering an area of around 9.55 million square meters.

The Boeing 737 aircraft, which departed from Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province, and was bound for Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, crashed into a mountainous area in Tengxian county, Guangxi, at around 2:38 pm on March 21. All 132 people on board the plane were killed.