According to Kyosuke Okada, a government official assigned to Tokyo’s Haneda airport, there were unconfirmed reports of two men and five women being injured. A large crowd was gathered on a wide grassy area next to the runway and near the choppy waters of Tokyo Bay.
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Flight 2708 was headed to Seoul.
Scared passengers and crew were evacuated from the Boeing 777 after an apparent engine fire. The plane’s inflatable emergency evacuation slides had all been deployed. All runways at the airport were closed after the engine fire, he said.
The Tokyo Fire Department said Korean Air reported the fire at 12:44 p.m.
Smoke was seen coming from the plane as it was about to take off at around 00:40 pm (0340 GMT), officials of the Japanese transportation ministry and the airport told AFP.
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About 100 police and 60 fire service vehicles rushed to the scene, although the National Police Agency said there were no immediate signs that terrorism was to blame for the incident.
