NANNING -- Rescuers have been braving the rain to clear landslide debris and waterlogging while continuing the search and rescue work at the site where a passenger plane with 132 people aboard crashed in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region Monday afternoon.

"We are continuing to search for survivors at our best. Our search area has been expanded nearly fivefold and we are searching the site thoroughly," said Huang Shangwu, a rescuer with the regional fire and rescue corps.

As of 7 pm Wednesday, the rescuers had searched an area covering about 46,000 square meters.

Huang said hundreds of people are participating in manual searches and drones are used to help with the rescue work.

Meanwhile, there are medical workers standing by at the site to ensure the safety of the rescuers.

It has been raining continuously since Wednesday evening at the crash site of the China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft in a mountainous area of Tengxian County, Guangxi.

By 11 am Thursday, rescuers had cleared landslide debris, but the rain-soaked soil continued to make travel on foot difficult. They have laid bamboo frames on the ground to facilitate the rescue work.

In the core area of the accident site, excavators and other equipment are ready to resume work.

The regional meteorological bureau at 8 a.m. Thursday forecast small to moderate rainfall in Tengxian over the next 12 hours, with accumulated rainfall of 5 to 8 mm and a temperature of 12 to 18 degrees Celsius.

The weather is expected to continue to adversely affect the rescue work.