Friday, May 21, 2010

Air India crash at Mangalore Airport

About 160 passengers are feared dead as a Mangalore bound Air India Express flight overshot the Mangalore airport runway on Saturday at 6.30 am.


According to eyewitness account, the Boeing 737 flight, which is believed to be carrying 165 passengers including 4 infants burst into flames soon after it overshot the runway while landing at the airport.


The Mangalore-Dubai route is a heavy density route. The firefighters have reached the spot and efforts are on to rescue the survivors. It is also learnt that because of the hilly terrain, the firefighters could not reach the accident site immediately. Twenty-five ambulances have also been rushed to the spot.


Sources in Air India tell that the length of the runway is comparatively small.The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained but the weather factor cannot be ruled out.


"Around 160 people are feared dead in the crash. Only Six to seven might have survived," Home Minister of Karnataka, V S Acharya told.

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