Airplane Crashes at Madrid Airport; Death Toll Still Unclear

World | August 20, 2008, Wednesday // 00:00
Airplane Crashes at Madrid Airport; Death Toll Still Unclear: Airplane Crashes at Madrid Airport; Death Toll Still Unclear A packed passenger jet caught fire and crashed Wednesday while trying to take off from Madrid's main international airport. Photo by news.sky.com

A packed passenger jet caught fire Wednesday while trying to take off from Madrid's main international airport, Barajas.

The Spanair plane, which was headed for Las Palmas airport on the island of Gran Canaria crashed and broke apart after failing to lift off from the runway.

There are conflicting reports of fatalities but emergency services said that only about 25 of the 173 or so passengers have survived.

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain's Prime Minister, convened an emergency Cabinet session to discuss Spain's worst aviation disaster in over 20 years.

The airport was immediately closed as 11 engines with firefighters tried to extinguish the blaze on the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82. Forty-five ambulances were sent to the scene.

Initial reports suggested that an engine on the left hand side of the aircraft caught fire as the plane headed down the runway.

The smoke could be seen several kilometres away.

Flight JKK 5022 was on a codeshare with Lufthansa flight LH 255, which prompted speculation that some of the passengers may have been Germans.

Relatives of those aboard the plane soon began arriving at the airport, where a spokesman said that a room had been set aside for them and psychological counselling was on offer.

According to reports, some injured passengers were taken to the La Paz hospital and a further eight to the Ramon y Cajal. Other Madrid hospitals were told to free up facilities - although it was unclear whether they would be needed given the heavy death toll.

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has not received information about Bulgarians on board of the airplane.

The Bulgarian Embassy in Madrid is making all possible efforts to find out if any Bulgarians have been on board of the crashed airplane, according to the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Dimitar Tsanchev, who made statements before Darik radio.

Tsanchev also said that Spanish authorities still didn't have enough information and this is why the Ministry does not know when exactly it would become clear if there have been any Bulgarian passengers.

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