A joint group on Thursday arrived at Dunhuang Airport, in northwest China's Gansu Province, to carry out an investigation over an incident in which a young boy died after falling from the landing gear of a passenger plane during takeoff on Wednesday.

The joint group was dispatched by the Northwest China Bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Business at the airport of Dunhuang, a well-known tourist resort known for its Buddhist grottoes, remained unaffected by the incident, said the airport authority.  

The boy, estimated to be about 10 years old, fell from the undercarriage of a China Eastern Airlines A320 plane when it was taking off from Dunhuang Airport at about 7:50 a.m. Wednesday, and died at the scene.

The plane continued its flight after the accident and landed safely at the destination of Lanzhou, capital of Gansu, one hour and 25 minutes later.

The identity of the boy is still unknown.   

The Gansu branch of the airlines said the landing gear is usually unwrapped at about 15 meters above the ground and the boy might have fallen out of the plane from that height. 

Officials with CAAC blamed the incident on lax safety measures at the airport and ordered a thorough investigation of the tragedy.

(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2005)