The Turkish budget airline Pegasus, Boeing 737 skid-off the runway got fire and broke to three pieces after a rough weather landing at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport from the Aegean port city of Izmir.
Airport authorities said the breathtaking accident took no lives but 120 passengers were injured. Turkish television showed several people climbing through a large crack in the severed aircraft and escaping onto one of the wings at the rear. The fire was soon put off by extinguishers.
“Some passengers evacuated the plane by themselves but others are stuck inside and our rescuers are working to free them,” Transport Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan said on CNN-Turk television. The plane was carrying 171 passengers and six crew members, the governor said, while Turkish media reports said there were also 12 children on board. The plane slipped off the runway about 60 meters and then slid-down to about 30-40 down a sloppy bank.
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