MOSCOW: A Russian passenger jet Tu-154 carrying 124 people on board caught fire as it taxied down and then exploded at a Siberian airport on Saturday, killing three people and injuring 43, officials said.
Emergency services spokesman Vadim Grebennikov said the fire began in one of the plane engines as the plane taxied for takeoff causing a powerful blast that destroyed the aircraft. The flames spread across 1,000 square meters (11,000 square feet).
Grebennikov said 10 people were seriously injured, including six who were badly burned and four who suffered broken bones or other trauma. Most of the passengers and crew were evacuated before the explosion.
“When the engines were started up, something went wrong and the outer covering of the plane caught fire,” said a passenger Vladimir Politov.
“We had trouble opening the emergency exits and people began to really panic, with some of them running right through the flames,” he added.
All three engines on the Tu-154 are located in the back of the aircraft. The fire Saturday appeared to have started in the engine mounted over the rear of the plane.–Agencies
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