18 killed in catastrophic India plane crash
New Delhi (QNN)- 18 people were killed and 150 others were injured when a passenger plane belonging to “Air India Express” crashed in the southern city of Kozhikode in India while landing in torrential rain on Friday.
Hardeep Singh Puri, the Indian civil aviation minister, told ANI news agency on Saturday 18 people including two pilots were killed in Friday’s “unfortunate” crash. The Boeing 737, en route from Dubai, skidded off a hilltop runway after landing in heavy rain.
The front and last rows of the plane were badly damaged and metal cutters were used to evacuate the passengers from the jet, reported the Times of India.
The rescue operation at the crash site has now been completed and survivors have been taken to hospitals in Calicut and Malappuram, according to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
During a press conference on Saturday, Puri said it would be premature to speculate on the precise cause of the accident. He said two separate teams had already reached Kozhikode from New Delhi to carry out an investigation into the crash.
