Emirates flight crash-lands in Dubai; all 300 safe

Dubai, August 3 

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Three hundred passengers, mostly Indians, had a miraculous escape today when a packed Emirates flight from Thiruvananthapuram crash-landed and exploded on the runway, shutting down one of the world’s busiest airports.

The Emirates said Flight EK521 with 282 passengers and 18 crew members on board was involved in the accident. With 226 Indians aboard, the Boeing 777-300 flight departed from the Trivandrum airport at 10.19 am.

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Among the 282 passengers were seven infants, two Indian crew members, and 74 foreigners — 24 from the UK, 11 from the UAE and six each from the US and Saudi Arabia. The Dubai airport authorities suspended all operations after the accident.

“While the cause is not yet clear, pictures of the airliner indicate that the front landing gear collapsed and the plane slid, possibly leading to a fire,” an official said. — PTI