An Air India plane carrying 160 passengers and six crew, has been reported to have crashed in India after over running the runway and burst into flames, killing at least 158 people, eight survivors have been reported.
Scene of the crash in India where a reported 158 people has died.
A Boeing 737-800 Air India Express Airplane was arriving from Dubai before it overran the runway at Mangalore, South India and careered into nearby vegetation area filled with hills.
The plane was seen in flames as TV camera crew filmed dramatic images of the crash site with rescue workers and civilians rushing to the site to try and find survivors.
A survivor from the plane, Ismail Abdul Puttur, is reported to have said ” it all happened within two seconds. When I saw the left side (of the aircraft) open, I jumped outside. I pulled two persons from there,”
It is thought that the plane which careered out of control after over running the runway and crashed into trees and hills causing the plane to be engulfed in flames.
One TV station even showed a rescue worker carrying, what looked to be a child from the wreckage, presumably alive.
It has been reported that rescue work was hampered with due to the dense smoke and the hills and dense vegetation which makes rescue vehicles difficult to reach.
Firefighters who reached the area managed to spray foam on the plane to try and stop the fire.
“As far as the information available to us, eight people were rescued and taken to local hospitals in Mangalore for their treatment. Air India is right now busy in confirming the casualties.” Said Air India’s personnel director, Anup Shrivasta, at a news conference in Mumbai.
The Deputy Commissioner of Mangalore, Prabhakar Sharma, said: “Rescue operations are in full swing at the site and all government agencies are attending the situation.”
However officials at the site have said that the chances of finding more survivors look increasingly unlikely as the majority of the plane has been burnt out.
Subramaneshwar Rao, a Superintendent, for the Mangalore police, said: “Chances of finding more survivors are very bleak as most of the plane has been burned out.”
Since the crash, aviation experts have slammed the airport’s runway for its tabletop design, in which experts have said a crash was inevitable if a plane ever overran the runway.
Indian’s usually travel to Dubai, and other rich Arab countries where their wage is much higher. It is very probable that a large amount of the passengers were returning from another season of work to see their friends and family before going back to Dubai.
