December 15, 2024 17:26 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Kolkata woman strangled, beheaded and chopped into pieces for refusing brother-in-law's advances | Arvind Kejriwal, CM Atishi to contest Delhi polls from current constituencies | Atul Subhash suicide case: Wife Nikita, her mother and brother arrested | Pushpa 2 stampede: Allu Arjun walks out of jail, actor's lawyer slams delay in release | Donald Trump intends to end 'inconvenient' and 'very costly' Daylight Saving Time | Suchir Balaji: Indian-origin former OpenAI researcher found dead at US apartment | Bengaluru techie suicide: Karnataka Police issues summons to wife Nikita, her family members | French President Macron appoints centrist leader Francois Bayrou as new Prime Minister | Congress always prioritised personal interest over Constitution: Rajnath Singh | Jaishankar calls attack on Hindus in Bangladesh 'a source of concern'
Air Crash

17 dead, 123 injured after Air India Express plane skids off runway while landing in Kerala's Kozhikode

| @indiablooms | Aug 08, 2020, at 04:28 am

Kozhikode/IBNS: At least 17 people, including a pilot, died and many were injured after an Air India Express aircraft with 191 people on board snapped into two while landing amid heavy rainfall in Kerala's Kozhikode on Friday evening.

The Air India Express Flight IX 1344 from Dubai to Kozhikode in Kerala overshot the runway after skidding off while landing at around 7-40 pm. 

A death toll of 14 was earlier confirmed by the local authorities in Kerala. Later media reports put the toll at 17. While 123 others were injured 15 suffered serious injuries. The pilot who died in the crash has been identified as Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe.

One of the pilots of Flight IX 1344 has died, BJP MP KJ Alphons said. All onboard have been evacuated from the site. 

 

Kerala has been battered by heavy rain through the day leading to flooding and landslides.

The correct number of casualties is not known as of now.

Among the 191 people on board, there were 10 infants, two pilots and five cabin crew.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted condoling the accident. "Pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. Spoke to Kerala CM @vijayanpinarayi  Ji regarding the situation. Authorities are at the spot, providing all assistance to the affected." he posted.

The Boeing 737 flight was a part of the Vande Bharat Mission which is servicing to bring back Indians stranded abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed that two investigation teams have been directed to reach the spot and that the evacuation process has been completed.

He earlier confirmed the death toll at 16 and condoled the loss of lives in the aircrash.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he has directed the police and fire department to take urgent action in the matter.

"Have also directed the officials to make necessary arrangements for rescue and medical support," Vijayan told media.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is battling Covid-19, tweeted that he has asked the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to assist with the rescue operations.

 

"Distressed to learn about the tragic accident of Air India Express aircraft in Kozhikode, Kerala. Have instructed NDRF to reach the site at the earliest and assist with the rescue operations," his tweet read.

(Reporting and Writing by Shabarni Basu and Deepayan Sinha)

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.