Many children dead in Madrid plane crash

SPAIN: Many children were among the dead left by the plane crash at a Spanish airport Wednesday which killed at least 153 people and injured 20 others, said authorities.

General Director of Municipal Assistance of Emergency and Rescue Services Evigio Corral said the minors were accompanying their parents in the airplane which was heading for Las Palmas, a tourist resort on the Canary Islands.

All nine crew members died and only 26 of the 173 passengers aboard survived, Corral said.

The authorities did not say if there were victims on land. The 15-year-old Spanair’s Flight JK5022 crashed on takeoff and burst into flames at 2:45 p.m. local time (1245 GMT), according to Spanair.

Officials from the Spanish Airports and Air Navigation said air traffic has been resumed to normal at the Barajas airport after the accident.

Among all the 1,258 scheduled flights, 934 had been completed until 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT).

The twin-engine jet shot off the runway, crashed and caught fire when it was taking off. The airplane was totally destroyed and most of the dead were burned beyond recognition.

Most of the passengers were tourists and some were foreigners, Spanair said, refraining from giving out the names. Firefighters had worked for two hours to bring the fire under control, and the survivors were taken to hospitals by ambulances and helicopters.

Madrid, Thursday, Xinhua