Istanbul, Feb 6 (IANS) At least 120 people were wounded when a plane slided off the runway at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen International Airport on Wednesday, Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya told reporters.
At the airport, Yerlikaya said the plane could not grasp the runway because of bad weather conditions and fell toward a road from a height of 30-40 meters, Xinhua news agency reported.
One to two injured people were in critical condition, he said, noting the rescue operation inside the plane is still going on.
Video footage aired by the Haberturk broadcaster showed that the front part of the aircraft was torn apart, and a fire erupted on the plane.
Press reports said four US and four Chinese citizens were among the passengers of the plane with Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines coming from the western city of Izmir.
The airport was reportedly closed to air traffic until further notice.
–IANS
rt/