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Search for Aussies in Dubai plane crash

“We have cancelled all our 11 flights to Dubai for today due to non-availability of the runway at the Dubai International Airport”, an IndiGo spokesperson said.

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However, in view of the mishap involving the Emirates Airlines flight from Thiruvananthapuram and subsequent closure of the airport in Dubai, the two flights to Chennai have been delayed, they said.

Though Air India had said that it would make arrangements to carry some passengers in emergency in a Sharjah-bound flight in the evening, it is alleged that no step has been taken for this.

According to Quest, Dubai-based Emirates is the largest airline in the world by available seat kilometers, while Dubai (DBX) is now the busiest global airport for worldwide passengers.

Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is mourning the firefighter who died responding to the crash-landing of an Emirates airliner.

The accident happened as Flight EK521, a Boeing 777, was arriving from the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram.

Another man said his family had also told him they were OK and there had been a problem with the landing gear. It is the first time an aircraft operated by Emirates has been damaged beyond fix since the carrier was founded in the 1980s.

It says the Boeing 777 plane had 275 passengers onboard.

“Thankfully, there was not fatalities among our passengers and crew”.

Video showed a tower of flame bursting from the front of the Boeing 777-300 jetliner, and then a thick black plume of smoke rising into the sky.

Emirates predicted there would be a four-hour delay in operations across its network. “All passengers and crew were safely evacuated”, the Dubai media office tweeted after the accident.

Officials from the airline declined to immediately provide further details but the Dubai government said all passengers were safe.

Hundreds of thousands of Kerala residents work in the Gulf countries.

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Around 300 passengers and crew escaped the plans before it was engulfed in flames at Dubai International Airport. It said authorities are “dealing with the incident at the moment to ensure safety of all”.

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