BEIJING, Nov 21: Fifty-four people died on Sunday when a plane crashed into a lake just after take-off, apparently after a blast, witnesses and media said.

China Eastern's flight MU-5210 bound for Shanghai plunged into an icy lake in Nanhai Park just seconds after leaving Baotou city in the northern Inner Mongolia region at 8:20am (0070 PST), the Xinhua news agency reported.

"There were 47 passengers on board and six crew members, and all died," the civil aviation authority said in a statement posted on its website. -AFP