The Latest: Dubai’s ruler names, mourns killed firefighter

Sheikh Mohammed also writes that Emiratis should be proud of al-Baloushi’s sacrifice while “performing his duty in protecting life and saving people.”

Sheikh Mohammed also serves as the prime minister and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates.

The accident Wednesday happened as Flight EK521, a Boeing 777, was arriving from the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram. There were 300 people on board the aircraft at the time, all of whom escaped the burning plane.

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7:55 p.m.

The chairman and CEO of Emirates airline says a firefighter was killed while responding to one of the carrier’s airplanes crash-landing in Dubai.

Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum also told a news conference on Wednesday night that 10 people were hospitalized after the incident at Dubai International Airport earlier in the day.

The accident happened as Flight EK521, a Boeing 777, was arriving from the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram. There were 300 people on board the aircraft at the time.

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7 p.m.

The Dubai Media Office says departure and arrival operations at Dubai International Airport have resumed after several hours of delays caused by the crash landing of an Emirates Airline flight.

The carrier says no fatalities were reported among the 300 people onboard the flight that was arriving from the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram Wednesday afternoon.

Emirates predicted there would be an eight-hour delay in operations across its network, disrupting travel plans for thousands of passengers during the busy summer vacation season.

The Dubai Media Office said flights resumed at the airport a little before 7 p.m. The airport is the busiest air hub in the world in terms of international passenger traffic.

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3:30 p.m.

Emirates says the Boeing 777 involved in an accident on landing at Dubai’s main airport had passengers and crew from 20 countries.

The airline says the 300 people onboard included 226 from India, 24 Britons and 11 Emiratis. There were six people each from the United States and Saudi Arabia, five from Turkey and four from Ireland.

Two people each came from Australia, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia and Thailand, and one each from Croatia, Egypt, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon, Philippines, South Africa, Switzerland and Tunisia.

T.P. Seetharam, the Indian ambassador to the UAE, says Indian diplomats have been dispatched to the airport and had met directly with many passengers. He says many are in shock, and that only one person — a crew member — had been taken to the hospital for treatment.

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3:20 p.m.

Passengers evacuated from an Emirates flight say that minutes before the flight crash-landed at Dubai airport, the pilot made an announcement that he needed to make an emergency landing.

Iype Vallikadan, a reporter from Indian newspaper “Mathrubhumi News,” says the passengers said the pilot spoke to them as the plane neared Dubai on Wednesday, saying there was a problem with the landing gear and that he would make an emergency landing.

Passengers said the cabin crew opened all the emergency exits of the plane and that all 300 passengers and crew on board the aircraft were evacuated within minutes of the landing.

The paper covers the southern Indian state of Kerala, of which Thiruvananthapuram is the capital. That’s the city the flight originated from.

Hundreds of thousands of Kerala residents work in the Gulf countries. The Emirates flight, flying directly from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai, was immensely popular with people from the state.

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2:50 p.m.

Dubai-based airline Emirates has confirmed that there were no fatalities on a flight from India that crash-landed at Dubai’s main airport Wednesday.

The carrier says “all passengers and crew are accounted for and safe.”

It raised the number of people onboard the flight to 300, saying there were 282 passengers and 18 crew.

The accident happened as Flight EK521 was arriving from the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram.

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2:25 p.m.

Dubai’s media office has confirmed that emergency teams have been activated to respond to a crash landing at the main Dubai International Airport, and that all passengers and crew have been safely evacuated.

Dubai-based Emirates said the incident happened as Flight EK521 was arriving from the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram.

It says the Boeing 777 plane had 275 passengers onboard.

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1:30 p.m.

The Mideast’s biggest airline, Emirates, is confirming that a flight from India with 275 passengers on board was involved in an accident at Dubai’s main airport.

It gave no details on the fate of those onboard Flight EK521 from the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.

Video posted online shows black smoke billowing from what looked like an Emirates jetliner lying on its belly on the runway.

Dubai-based Emirates says its “main priority now is the safety and well-being of all involved.”

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

The Latest: Dubai’s ruler names, mourns killed firefighter

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