TWO PEOPLE WERE killed when an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 passenger jet crashed and burst into flames at San Francisco International Airport.
A further 182 others were injured in the incident.
Flight 214 had 307 people – 291 passengers and 16 crew – on board when it left Seoul. The aircraft apparently struck a rocky area at the water’s edge short of the runway at the airport, a major international hub, especially for flights to and from Asia.
“It is incredible and very lucky that we have so many survivors. But there are still many that are critically injured,” said San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee who also sent condolences to the families of those killed and hurt.
One of the two dead “carried a Chinese passport,” and the nationality of the other victim was unclear.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said there was no indication that terrorism was to blame for the crash.
The airport was closed immediately after the incident but two runways later reopened. Some flights were diverted to Los Angeles.
Among those on board were 77 Koreans, 141 Chinese, 61 US citizens, and one Japanese national.
San Francisco General Hospital said it was treating 34 patients, five of them in critical condition.
Here are pictures of the crash scene and aftermath in San Francisco:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say