New Delhi: At least 25 people were injured after a Tibet Airlines passenger plane caught fire at China's Chongqing airport after going off the runway on Thursday morning. 113 passengers and 9 crew members were safely evacuated from the flight, the airlines said in a statement. According to a report by AFP, the flight, carrying 113 passengers and nine crew, was headed from the southwestern city of Chongqing to Tibet's Nyingchi. While en route to Tibet, the airline staff noticed "abnormalities" and "suspended take off", causing the jet to overrun the runway and catch fire, the company said in a statement.
The images of the flight bursting into flames went viral on social media. However, the airlines said that everyone was safe and some people who have suffered minor injuries are being treated at the nearest hospital. Images shared by Chinese state media showed flames engulfing the wing of the stricken jet.
Video footage posted by 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.
"All passengers and crew have been safely evacuated," Tibet Airlines said in a statement. "The injured passengers were all only lightly injured, and have been sent to hospital for treatment."
According to a PTI report, the fire has been extinguished and the runway has been closed for now to check for damages.
The aircraft was about to depart for Nyingchi in Tibet when the fire started. The airline has said that the accident is under investigation.
The incident comes after a China Eastern flight travelling from Kunming to Guangzhou plunged from 29,000 feet into a mountainside in March, killing all 132 people on board.
No reason for that crash has been given for the disaster, China's deadliest in around 30 years.
Two flight recorders, or "black boxes", were recovered and are being analysed in the United States in the hopes of unlocking the mystery behind the China Eastern jet's rapid descent.