Hundreds of passengers escaped after an Emirates flight skidded on a runway and burst into flames Wednesday at Dubai International Airport.
Thirteen passengers suffered minor injuries when the plane crashed after landing, Emirates Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said.
But a firefighter, identified as Jassim Essa Al-Baloushi, was killed “while saving the lives of others,” the Dubai government’s media office said. Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum tweeted residents were “proud of our youth and their sacrifices while performing their duties in protecting lives and saving people.”
Flames and thick, black smoke billowed from the stricken Boeing 777 shortly after it came to a stop on the runway.
There were no fatalities among the 282 passengers and 18 crew members on board, Emirates said.
“Emirates can confirm that today, 3 August 2016, flight EK521 traveling from Trivandrum International Airport in Thiruvananthapuram, India to Dubai has been involved in an accident at Dubai International Airport,” the airline said.
The majority of those on board were Indian nationals, it added.
Emirates said it expected an eight-hour network-wide delay in its operations.
All flights departing from Dubai International Airport were delayed for several hours, and all incoming flights were being diverted to other airports, the Dubai government media office tweeted.
By Wednesday evening, departure flights had resumed, the media office said.
Dubai-based Emirates is the largest airline in the world by available seat kilometers, or ASK, Quest said. ASK measures an airline’s passenger carrying capacity by multiplying seats available by distance flown.
Dubai International Airport is the busiest airport for international passengers.
CNN
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