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
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Latest: Trump calls for help to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Dubai (AP): US President Donald Trump said he has demanded that about seven countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open as Iranian strikes continued to rain down on Gulf countries on Monday.
Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest, gradually restarted operations after a drone struck a fuel tank and started a fire. Authorities said it was quickly contained, and no injuries were reported.
Tehran has accused the United States, without evidence, of using “ports, docks and hideouts” in the United Arab Emirates to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran's oil exports, as oil prices soared. Brent crude oil was trading near USD 105 per barrel on Monday.
Trump said the US is negotiating with countries heavily reliant on Middle East crude to join a coalition to police the waterway where about one-fifth of the world's traded oil normally flows, but declined to name them.
Israeli strikes have deepened Lebanon's humanitarian crisis, with more than 850 people killed and over 850,000 displaced.
Here is the latest:
Bahrain reports missile and drone attacks
-------------------------------------------------
Bahrain's Defence Ministry says air defence systems have responded to attacks on Monday morning.
The ministry says four missiles and three drones were fired.
Israel sends troops into Lebanon for a limited operation
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Israeli military says it sent additional ground troops into Lebanon for what it calls a “limited and targeted operation.”
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani says the latest deployment is meant to defend Israeli border communities against attacks from the Hezbollah militant group.
Shoshani says Hezbollah has sent hundreds of fighters from its elite Radwan unit toward the border since the militant group entered the war two weeks ago.
He says Israel carried out artillery and airstrikes on multiple sites before sending in the troops.
Earlier in the war, Israel beefed up the presence of ground troops inside Lebanon in what it says is an attempt to prevent attacks on its northern border towns.
Israeli strikes on South Lebanon kill 3, including 2 paramedics
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency says one person was killed by an Israeli airstrike early Monday on a home in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Sir.
The agency says another strike occurred after paramedics from the Islamic Health Society, Hezbollah's health arm, arrived at the scene.
The agency says the second strike killed two paramedics and wounded another person.
Israeli military says 70 per cent of Iranian launchers destroyed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Israeli military says it has destroyed an estimated 70 per cent of Iran's missile launchers during the first two weeks of the war.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters Monday that while Iran continues to fire missiles at Israel, the number of launches has been greatly reduced.
He says Israel has carried out some 7,600 strikes in Iran, knocking out 85 per cent of Iran's air defences and targeting a number of Iranian nuclear sites.
Shoshani says the war will go on “for as long as needed” and says Israel still has thousands of targets it is prepared to strike.
China has no comment on Trump's Strait of Hormuz request
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A Chinese government spokesperson did not respond directly to questions about Trump's request for military support from several countries to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The Foreign Ministry's Lin Jian, at a daily briefing in Beijing, instead repeated China's calls for an end to the fighting, noting the impact on energy and goods trade.
Trump said in an interview with The Financial Times that the US would like an answer from China before his planned trip to Beijing in about two weeks, and that “we may delay.”
Lin said China and the US have maintained communication on Trump's visit.
“Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China–US relations,” he said.
Drone strike starts fire at UAE oil facility
-----------------------------------------------
A fire broke out Monday following a drone attack on an industrial oil facility in Fujairah, one of the United Arab Emirates' seven emirates, authorities said.
The Media Office in Fujairah said a drone targeted the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, causing an “advanced” fire.
No casualties were reported.
UAE says Palestinian killed in Abu Dhabi missile attack
---------------------------------------------------------------
A Palestinian civilian was killed in a missile attack early Monday in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, authorities said.
The Abu Dhabi Media Office said a missile fell on a civilian vehicle in the Al Bahyah area.
The death raised the toll to seven people in the UAE since the beginning of the war on Feb. 18, authorities said.
EU weighs naval missions to reopen the Strait
------------------------------------------------------
The European Union is weighing two types of naval missions to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, and that's why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard from the European side,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief.
She made the announcement ahead of a gathering of the bloc's foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
Rising prices for energy and fertilisers have brought the war in Iran to the top of their agenda, she said.
Kallas said the EU could expand its Aspides naval mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea up into the Persian Gulf or form a “coalition of the willing” with member nations contributing military capacity on an ad hoc basis.
