At least 15 dead as Air India Express plane crash-lands in Kerala

CHENNAI (Reuters) – At least 15 people were killed and dozens injured when an Air India Express passenger plane overshot the runway and broke into two after landing in the city of Calicut in heavy rain on Friday, officials said.

The Boeing-737 flight from Dubai was flying home Indians stranded overseas due to the coronavirus pandemic. There were 190 passengers and crew on board, the civil aviation ministry said in a statement. Among them were 10 infants.

Television footage showed rescue workers moving around the wreckage in pouring rain. The aircraft lay split into at least two chunks after the plane’s fuselage sheared apart as it fell into a valley 30 feet below, authorities said.

#WATCH Kerala: Dubai-Kozhikode Air India flight (IX-1344) with 190 people onboard skidded during landing at Karipur Airport today. (Video source: Karipur Airport official) pic.twitter.com/aX90CYve90

— ANI (@ANI) August 7, 2020

Media reports suggested that the plane skidded off a runway, crashing nose-first into the ground.

The Kerala state police chief said at least 15 people had been killed, with at least four passengers stuck in the wreckage.

The civil aviation ministry said in a statement there was no fire on board.

#airindia #AirIndiaExpress Air india crash landing pic.twitter.com/G82c5Dg6nk

— Ground Zero News India (@Ground0newsind) August 7, 2020

Local TV news channels showed passengers, some of them lying motionless on stretchers, brought into a hospital surrounded by health workers wearing masks because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Air India Express AXB1344, was a repatriation flight operated by the government to bring Indians home during international travel restrictions due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. Millions of Indians work in the Gulf.