Passenger plane catches fire at South Korean airport, all 176 people on board evacuated
Seoul, Jan 28 (AP): A passenger plane caught fire before takeoff at an airport in South Korea late Tuesday, but all 176 people on board were safely evacuated, authorities said.
The Airbus plane operated by South Korean airline Air Busan was preparing to leave for Hong Kong when its rear parts caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in the southeast, the Transport Ministry said in a statement.
All of the plane's 169 passengers, six crewmembers and one engineer were evacuated using an escape slide, the ministry statement said.
The National Fire Agency said in a release that three people suffered minor injuries during the evacuation. The fire agency said the fire was completely put out at 11:31 pm, about one hour after it deployed firefighters and fire trucks at the scene.
The cause of the fire wasn't immediately known. The Transport Ministry said the plane is an A321 model.
Tuesday's incident came a month after a Jeju Air passenger plane crashed at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. It was one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea's aviation history.
The Boeing 737-800 skidded off the airport's runaway on Dec 29 after its landing gear failed to deploy, slamming into a concrete structure and bursting into flames. The flight was returning from Bangkok and all of the victims were South Koreans except for two Thai nationals.
The first report on the crash released Monday said authorities have confirmed traces of bird strikes in the plane's engines, though officials haven't determined the cause of the accident.
Now: Air Busan Airbus A321 caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in South Korea — a fire broke out in the tail section of the aircraft prior to departure.
— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) January 28, 2025
All of the 169 passengers and seven crews onboard have evacuted safely, per state news agency. pic.twitter.com/ax2I1BslYZ
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Will of people supreme, says Mahua Moitra after BJP's landslide victory in Bengal
Kolkata (PTI): A day after the Trinamool Congress faced a drubbing by the BJP in the West Bengal assembly elections, TMC MP Mohua Moitra on Tuesday said her party respects the mandate as the will of the people is supreme.
She also said that the party will continue the fight for a “secular country”.
In a post on X, Moitra said, “The will of the people is supreme. If Bengal wanted BJP, then Bengal has got BJP. We respect that.”
The BJP on Monday scripted history by winning 206 seats to secure more than a two-thirds majority in the West Bengal assembly polls, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule.
"We fought the good fight against unimaginable odds on an uneven pitch and for that I am proud of my leader & my party," Moitra said.
She said the TMC will continue to stand and fight for a secular country where the constitution, and "not brute majoritarianism, is the last word”.
