This image made from video shows smoke rising after an Emirates flight crash landed at Dubai International Airport
An Emirates flight from India with 300 people on board crash landed
at Dubai’s main airport yesterday, sending black smoke billowing into the air and halting all traffic at the Middle East’s busiest airport. Authorities said all passengers were evacuated safely. However, according to BBC, one firefighter died while trying to extinguish the flames.
Dubai-based Emirates claimed the accident happened around 12.45 p.m. local time as Flight EK521 was arriving from the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram.
It confirmed there were no fatalities and said “all passengers and crew are accounted for and safe.”
The Boeing 777 was carrying 282 passengers and 18 crew members, according to the airline, which had earlier provided a lower figure.
The Dubai government’s official media office separately said that all passengers were “evacuated safely and no injuries have been reported so far.”
It said authorities were “dealing with the incident at the moment to ensure safety of all” and that all departures from the airport had been halted until further notice. Emirates predicted there would be a four-hour delay in operations across its network.
“Our main priority at this time is the safety and wellbeing of all involved and full co-operation is being extended to the authorities and emergency services managing the situation,” the carrier said.
Video posted online showed black smoke billowing from what looked like an Emirates jetliner lying on its belly on the runway.
Firefighters soon managed to bring the fire under control, with Associated Press journalists at the airport reporting that the charred fuselage of the plane appeared to no longer be burning. The top of the aircraft was scorched brown from near the cockpit back to its tail. Several yellow fire trucks surrounded the plane.
Dubai resident Girisankal Gangadhakan said his wife called him after the plane landed to tell him that she and their three children onboard had been involved in an accident but were safe.
“I was shocked when I heard about that,” he said.
The Boeing 777 departed Thiruvananthapuram at 10:19 a.m. and was scheduled to land at 12:50 p.m. local time, according to Emirates.
Thiruvananthapuram is the capital of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. Many blue-collar migrant workers employed in the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf nations come from Kerala, which is a popular beachside tourist destination.
Dubai International is by far the Mideast’s busiest airport, and is the world’s busiest air hub in terms of international passenger traffic. Government-backed Emirates is the region’s biggest carrier, and operates the world’s largest airline fleet of the wide-body 777 long-haul aircraft. MDT/AP
Three indonesian volcanoes erupt, disrupting some flights
Eruptions at three volcanoes in Indonesia have darkened skies in parts of the archipelago and disrupted some flights. Mount Rinjani on Lombok Island near Bali, the Sinabung volcano on Sumatra Island and Mount Gamalama in the Moluccas chain of islands have all erupted in the past couple of days. No one has been injured, but flights at two airports have been disrupted. Sultan Babullah airport in Ternate, the capital of North Maluku province, was closed yesterday and Lombok’s international airport was closed for several hours on Tuesday. The three mountains are among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The archipelago of 250 million people is prone to earthquakes and volcanoes because it sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a string of faults that line the Pacific Ocean. Adam Schreck, Dubai
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