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An Air India Express passenger flight en route from Dubai with 191 people on board has overshot the runway during landing at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport. Police confirmed 14 deaths with another 123 injured
Malappuram police superintendent Abdul Kareem confirmed the numbers to the ANI news agency. Fifteen people are said to be “seriously” injured.
Officials also confirmed that both the pilot and co-pilot perished in the crash landing.
Media reports said the plane overshot the runway, fell into a valley and broke up.
Images and video circulating on social media show the aircraft broken into two pieces with rescue operations underway.
There were total 184 passengers, including 10 infants and 6 crew members, including 2 pilots onboard #AirIndiaExpress flight (IX-1344) from Dubai to #Kozhikode that broke into two pieces at the airport.#KozhikodeAirCrash #Kerala pic.twitter.com/jNwHsVdG2R
— Smitha T K (@smitha_tk) August 7, 2020
Dubai Kozhikode Air India Express flight crashes 190 people on board ! pic.twitter.com/xFNbqkWaw6
— Neeta Sharma (@NEETAS11) August 7, 2020
Visuals from the #AirIndia crash site in Calicut. @ANI @ndtv @republic Let’s pray for the victims. pic.twitter.com/D9INysrmFb
— Pranoy Ray (@aviatorpranoy) August 7, 2020
Local reports said that the aircraft did not catch fire and that passengers were being evacuated.
The disaster happened at around 7PM local time amid heavy rainfall in the area.
The Blood Donors India volunteer group has issued an urgent plea for people to come forward to donate blood at two hospitals in the city of Kozhikode.
The flight was part of the ‘Vande Bharat’ government-run program to bring back Indians stranded in foreign countries amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
India’s Interior Minister Amit Shah wrote on social media that he was “distressed” by the incident at Kozhikode, and has directed the National Disaster Response Force to assist the rescue efforts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also expressed his condolences to the victims and their families, wishing a speedy recovery for those injured.
