Singapore flight hit by turbulence, 1 dead

Bangkok, May 21

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An elderly British man died and more than two dozen passengers were injured when a Singapore Airlines flight from London was struck by severe turbulence and plunged 6,000 feet in the span of some a few minutes on Tuesday over the Indian Ocean.

The flight was then diverted and landed in stormy weather in Bangkok. Authorities said the British man may have suffered a heart attack, though that has not been confirmed. His name was not immediately released.

Kittipong Kittikachorn, general manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, told a news conference on Tuesday night that the British man was 73-year-old and appeared to have suffered a heart attack.

There were at least three Indian nationals among the 229 people aboard the Boeing 777-300ER flight from London’s Heathrow airport to Singapore, which landed at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport at 3.45 pm local time, the airline said in a Facebook post. The Singapore Airlines said as of four hours after the emergency landing, 18 people remained hospitalised while 12 were treated on outpatient basis. — AP