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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Tim Hanlon

Fire crews race to blazing plane with huge plumes of smoke after skidding on runway

Fire crews have been seen desperately trying to put out a huge blaze onboard a plane at a Chinese airport.

The plane could be seen with smoke billowing above it as a blaze ripped through the front of it.

The reported Tibet Airlines A319 skidded on the runway at Chong Qing international airport as it tried to take off at around 8am.

A video showed panicking passengers hurriedly running away from the plane on Thursday morning.

More footage later shows fire engines with long hoses tackling the blaze.

There were 113 on board the plane and that everybody got out in time with several minor injuries but no deaths, tweeted ChinaAviationReview.

The plane was due to fly from Chong Quing to Lhasa before catching fire and the airport is currently closed to incoming flights.

Tibet Airlines regional office in Chong Qing reportedly stated: "There has been an incident which is still under investigation. Any new information will be provided by the company."

It comes less than a month after a Chinese Eastern Airlines flight crashed killing everyone on board.

Terrifying footage shared online claimed to show the final moments of the Chinese Eastern Airlines flight in a steep dive moments before it crashed.

The Boeing 737-800 suddenly plummeted from around 30,000 at around 2.30pm local time into the mountains near the city of Wuzhou in Teng county.

It had 132 people aboard, with nine members of crew, who died in the burning wreckage.

Mystery still remains over what caused the plane to suddenly nosedive with human activity put forward as a theory for it.

Investigations have been made more difficult by hilly and forested terrain in the Guangxi region while there has also been heavy rain making the land muddy and susceptible to landslides.

Around six miles from the crash site, farmer Huang Jianyi, 80, said he found a piece of metal while working on a paddy field in the village of Siwang.

“I saw a piece of metal. It was white,” said Huang, reported the South China Morning Post, spreading his arms out wide to indicate its large dimensions.

It was later found and it raises questions now over whether the plane broke up in the sky.

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