Emirates flight from India catches fire in Dubai; All passengers safe

Dubai: An Emirates airline plane flying from Kerala has crash landed at Dubai Airport after reportedly catching fire in mid-air.

The airline tweeted, “Emirates can confirm that an incident happened at Dubai International Airport at about 12.45 p.m”. All passengers were evacuated and there were no reported injuries, it said.

The Dubai government confirmed the Boeing 777-300 jet crash-landed at the airport shortly after 1pm local time (9am UK time) with 300 passengers and crew on board.

The three-hour flight took off from Trivandrum International Airport in India at around 6am UK time before the captain is understood to have sent out and emergency signal shortly before the plane was due to land.

No one is believed to have been seriously injured and passengers have been safely evacuated.

Emirates said it is not yet known what caused the accident but confirmed there had been no fatalities.

Eye-witnesses described seeing huge plumes of smoke rising from the plane before it crashed down onto the runway.

Photographs of the incident posted on social media showed a plane lying crumpled on its belly on the tarmac with black smoke pouring from its upper section.

Dramatic video also showed the plane exploding in a ball of fire shortly after passengers were evacuated.

Emergency services are currently on the runway. All departure flights from Dubai international, the world’s busiest airport for international travel, were delayed until further notice, authorities said.