Over 40 injured as Tibet Airlines plane veers of runway, catches fire

TIL Desk/World/Beijing/ Over 40 people were injured when a passenger plane of China’s Tibet Airlines with 122 people onboard veered off the runway and caught fire while taking off in the country’s southwest Chongqing city on Thursday.

All 113 passengers and nine crew members aboard the flight from Chongqing to Nyingchi in the Tibet Autonomous Region have been safely evacuated, Tibet Airlines said. Over 40 people who sustained minor injuries have been hospitalised.

Video footage posted by China Central Television (CCTV) showed flames and billowing black smoke from the fuselage of the Tibet Airlines plane on the tarmac at Chongqing Jiangbei international airport.

People could be seen running from the plane after escaping via an evacuation slide at the rear door. CCTV said the fire had been extinguished and the runway closed. The aircraft was about to depart for Nyingchi in Tibet when the fire started. The airline has said that the accident is under investigation.