MANGALORE, May 22 (PTI): As many as 160 persons were feared dead when an Air India Express flight from Dubai with 173 on board crashed and caught fire today as it overshot the newly built runway while landing at the Mangalore airport.
"According to me 160 people are not alive. A few people have been shifted to hospital," Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa told reporters in Bangalore shortly after one of the worst air crashes in India.
According to preliminary information, there were 173 persons on board Flight IX-892, operated by a Boeing 737-800.
This included 163 passengers, four infants and six crew members on board. The crash occured around 6.30 AM.
Home Minister V S Acharya told reporters five to six people may have survived.
"The crash happened while landing and the aircraft immediately caught fire," State Home Minister V S Acharya told PTI.
