By Spy Uganda
Several people are suspected to have died on Friday in Kerala, India, evening after a plane belonging to Air India Express, which was carrying 191 people on board from Dubai to Calicut, skidded off the runway and crashed at Kozhikode airport, before breaking into pieces.
One of the pilots and 4 other people are confirmed to have been killed in the debris, although the death toll is expected to rise.
Most of the passengers on board were evacuated and at least 70 injured, including 15 in serious condition, have were to hospital for immediate medical attention, authorities in India said.
The Air India Express AxB1344 flight, aboard Boeing B737, was part of the Vande Bharat programme that has been bringing back Indians from abroad amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
The pilot-in-command Captain Deepak Sathe and his co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar were among those killed onboard the Dubai-Calicut Air India Express aircraft.
At least 100 people were left injured in the incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed pain over the tragedy and said he had spoken with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. “I have instructed the police and the fire force to take urgent action in the wake of the plane crash at the Kozhikode International airport (CCJ) in Karipur,” Vijayan, who is expected to visit the site today, said.
