An Air India plane carrying 191 persons on board and coming from Dubai skidded during landing at Kozhikode of Kerala. The mishap occurred at 7:40 pm. According to local MLA Muneer, 16 persons including both pilot and co-pilot, were killed while 45 more sustained grievous injuries in the incident.
The flight was operated by Vande Bharat Mission, meant for ferrying Indians stranded abroad due to COVID-19 restrictions. According to sources the plane skidded off the runway and went down the slope before breaking into two pieces under the impact of the hard landing.
Most of the rescue efforts have been completed, many local residents swarmed to the accident site and voluntarily joined the rescue operations, making the Herculean task relatively easy for the authorities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Kerala Chief Minister Pinnarayi Vijayan and enquired about the mishap. The chief minister reportedly briefed the PM on the rescue and relief measures being taken up.
Most of the passengers are working in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi of United Arab Emirates besides a few Gulf countries as expatriate employees and labourers, who were returning home after being stranded due to the coronavirus pandemic.
#AirIndiaExpress plane crashes in #Kerala after skidding off the #runway#Kozhikode #planecrash .. pic.twitter.com/ECYz7GCFJL
— ur'sGirivsk (@girivsk) August 7, 2020
