45 killed in plane crash at Madrid's airport

The Associated Press ,  Madrid   |  Wed, 08/20/2008 9:13 PM  |  World

A Spanish airliner carrying 173 people bound for the Canary Islands crashed and caught fire Wednesday while trying to take off from Madrid's Barajas airport. At least 45 people were killed, the Interior Ministry said.

There were fears the death toll could rise, with some Spanish media reporting more than 100 dead.

Dozens of ambulances sped toward the site as columns of smoke billowed from the wreckage. In addition to the 45 confirmed dead, at least 19 were seriously injured and 25 slightly hurt, the Interior Ministry's office for the greater Madrid region said.

Spanair Flight JK5022 - bound for the popular Canary Islands off the West African coast during the height of Spain's summer vacation season - sped off the end of the runway and crashed, breaking into pieces, the newspaper El Pais quoted an airport official as saying.

The plane's takeoff had been an hour late due to technical problems. It eventually managed to get slightly off the ground but crashed near the end of the runway, the paper said, quoting an employee of the national airport authority AENA.

Helicopters and fire trucks dumped water on the plane, which ended up in a wooded area at the end of the runway at Terminal 4. Thick columns of white smoke billowed from the scene.

Crews were removing the injured as well as the bodies of the dead, an official with the Madrid emergency rescue service SAMUR said, calling it a "catastrophe." He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give his name.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero interrupted his vacation in southern Spain to travel straight to Madrid airport, his office said.

A makeshift morgue was being set up at the city's main convention center, officials said.

The plane was an MD-82 on a codeshare flight to Las Palmas with Lufthansa's LH255, Spanair said. Departures from Madrid's airport were suspended for several hours before resuming. (and)

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.