The plane, arriving from India, caught fire after slumping onto the runway in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday (August 3), killing one firefighter in an intense blaze and bringing the world’s busiest worldwide airport to a halt for several hours. Spice Jet also confirmed that it will not be operating to Dubai on Thursday. On Wednesday, while the Indigo-Thiruvananthapuram flight to Dubai and Fly Dubai airlines Thiruvananthapuram-Dubai flight were cancelled, Air India Express operated its flight from here by diverting the aircraft to Sharjah as the Dubai airport was closed.
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Four Irish passengers were among those on board the jet, which was flying from Kerala, India.
Meanwhile, Dubai Airports said more than 230 flights were cancelled due to the Emirates plane incident. Dubai authorities said all passengers were evacuated safely. All 282 passengers and 18 crew members managed to evacuate the plane without major incident, but one firefighter unfortunately lost his life during the rescue operation.
Asked about the cause of the crash, Sheikh Ahmed said the investigations are still ongoing, stressing “all required maintenance and security checks on the plane were done in the past as scheduled”.
The accident Wednesday happened as Flight EK521, a Boeing 777, was arriving from the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram.
The new video shows some of the passengers unloading their luggage from the overhead bins as the crowded cabin fills with smoke – seemingly unaware of the severity of the situation.
Emirates has warned that flights at Dubai International Airport could be disrupted for 36 hours.
“Emirates cancelled 27 flights yesterday, and there were delays and rescheduled flights across the network. Dedicated telephone lines are now active for family members, UAE – 8002111, United Kingdom – 00442034508853, U.S. – 0018113502081”, says the airline.
The Dubai Media Office said flights resumed at the airport a little before 7 p.m.
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Dubai airport scraps over 200 flights after Emirates crash was posted in World of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on August 04, 2016 and was last updated on August 04, 2016.
