146 reported killed in Madrid jet crash
MADRID: A Spanish tourist jet carrying 173 people careered off a
Madrid airport runway and broke up in flames on Wednesday killing at
least 146 people, national radio reported.
The Spanair MD-82 made an emergency landing just after taking off
from Madrid-Barajas airport heading for Las Palmas in the Canary
Islands, according to an airport authority spokesman. Spanish media said
an engine caught fire as it took off.
Smoke billowed from the wreckage of Flight JK 5022. Helicopters
dropped water to douse the flames of the jet and grassfires caused by
the crash.
The airport cancelled departures after the crash and restricted the
number of flights arriving.
About 30 incoming flights were delayed by up to seven hours.Spanish
national radio said 146 people died and 26 people were injured in the
disaster.
The authorities earlier issued a provisional toll saying there were
at least 45 dead and 40 injured - making it one of the worst air
disasters in Europe in recent years. A spokesman said 15 of those
injured were in serious condition.
Spanair said the plane was carrying 164 passengers and nine crew on
the MD-82 jet when it crashed at 2:45pm (1245 GMT) during take off.
The company said the names of the passengers and crew would only be
released after families have been notified.
"Information on the number of people involved is not yet available,
but Spanair is doing everything possible to help the Spanish authorities
at this difficult time," the company added.
At the airport, friends and family members of those on board were
escorted into a special room. SAS, the Scandinavian airline which owns
Spanair, said a special team had been set up in Madrid. "SAS is doing
everything possible to help passengers and next of kin and to assist
Spanish authorities."
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero interrupted his
holiday to go to the scene, his office said.
Five passengers on a Spanair flight from Spain's Basque region to
Barcelona were injured in an emergency evacuation on January 9, 2006.
The airline was founded in 1986 and says it has carried more than 104
million passengers from about 100 European destinations to Spain since
then. It has a fleet of 65 jets. The airliner, a member of the Star
Alliance network, recently proposed shedding almost a quarter of its
4,000 staff because of the fuel price rise crisis and reduced demand.
It posted net losses of 41 million euros (62 million dollars) in the
first quarter. AFP
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