Beijing, May 12 (PTI) At least 25 people were injured when a passenger plane of China's Tibet Airlines with 122 people onboard veered off the runway and caught fire while taking off in the country's southwest Chongqing city on Thursday.

The Tibet-bound plane was carrying 113 passengers and nine crew members, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

All the people aboard the plane were evacuated and the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Airport sources said that 25 people have been injured.

Video footage posted by China Central Television (CCTV) showed flames and billowing black smoke from the fuselage of the Tibet Airlines plane on the tarmac at Chongqing Jiangbei international airport, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

People could be seen running from the plane after escaping via an evacuation slide at the rear door.

CCTV said the fire had been extinguished and the runway closed.

The aircraft was about to depart for Nyingchi in Tibet when the fire started.

The airline has said that the accident is under investigation.

This is the second incident involving a passenger plane in China in recent weeks.

On March 12, a Boeing 737 aircraft from Kunming to Guangzhou had crashed in Tengxian county of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. All the 132 people on board, including nine crew members, were killed.

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Hyderabad (PTI): Even death could not separate two childhood friends from Telangana, who lost their lives in a road accident in the United States.

The victims, Meghana Rani and K Bhavana, both aged 24 and natives of Mahabubabad district, died in a car accident in Bishop City, California, at around 3 am (IST) on Monday, while they were on a tour, according to information received by their family members.

"They were classmates in school, during their BTech and later during their Master’s studies in the US," Meghana’s cousin Mani Kumar told PTI.

After completing engineering from a private college in Hyderabad, the two went to the US in 2022 and completed their MS degrees there, he said, adding that they were currently looking for jobs.

According to him, friends in the US informed the families about the accident.

BRS Rajya Sabha member Vaddiraju Ravichandra expressed grief over the deaths.

He spoke to the parents of the deceased and assured them that he would take up the matter with the concerned officials to facilitate the return of the mortal remains, according to a press release.

Bhavana’s father, Kadiyala Koteswara Rao, is the Upa Sarpanch of Mulkanoor village, while Meghana’s father, Prallakhandam Venkata Nageswara Rao, runs a ‘Mee Seva’ citizen service centre as a franchisee, the release added.