MADRID: Up to 150 people died after a plane overshot the runway at Barajas airport here yesterday.
Emergency services said only 23 of the 173 passengers and crew on board the Spanair flight survived when it crashed after swerving off the runway at Terminal 4.
The Spanish Interior Ministry said at least 100 people had been confirmed dead so far, Spanish national radio reported. Another 19 were said to be in critical condition, with 25 having suffered less severe injuries. Two babies were said to have been on board.
Spanair — the country’s second largest carrier, which is owned by the Scandinavian carrier SAS — said the crash happened at 2:45 p.m. local time. The rear-engined MD-82 aircraft was traveling to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.
Spanish radio reported that Swedes and Danes were believed to have been among the passengers on Flight JK5022.
Reports suggested that the crash happened after the plane attempted to take off for a second time. Some witnesses said one of the engines on the left side caught fire as the aircraft accelerated, causing it to swerve off track.
One eyewitness told local television that the plane had risen a few dozen feet off the runway before crashing on the ground.
A worker for the airport operator Aena, who saw the wreckage, said the aircraft had broken up. “The plane is in pieces and it is full of bodies,” he said.
Manuel Moleno, a Spanish journalist who was near the area when the accident happened, told the BBC the plane had crashed into pieces. “We heard a big crash,” he said. “So we stopped, and we saw a lot of smoke.”
Hundreds of emergency workers and dozens of ambulances and firefighting vehicles were sent to the scene, along with heavy-lifting equipment.
Helicopters and fire trucks dumped water on the plane, which ended up in a wooded area at the end of the Terminal 4 runway.
Thick columns of white smoke billowed from the scene.
The airport was closed for a number of hours, with passengers being turned away. Reporters at the scene said the terminal building had filled up with people either looking for information about relatives on the flight or caught up in the travel disruption.
Unconfirmed reports said the flight had been due to take off at 1 p.m. and had left the departure gate at 1:05 p.m., returning just over half an hour later because of technical problems.
A Spanair spokesman said it was too early to confirm why the plane, around 20 years old, had crashed. He said the company’s thoughts were with those who had been injured and the relatives of those who had died.
“Spanair regrets to confirm that its flight, from Madrid to Las Palmas de Gran Canarias, was involved in an incident at Madrid,” the spokesman said. “On board were 164 passengers and nine crew members.
“Spanair is doing everything possible to assist the Spanish authorities at this difficult time, and has established a local helpline number for relatives or friends of those who may have been on board.”
An official with the Madrid emergency rescue service said crews were removing the dead and injured from the wreckage. “It is certain catastrophe,” he said.
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero broke off his holiday to return to Madrid.
Officials said a makeshift morgue was being set up at the city’s main convention center.
Around 60 million passengers use the Barajas airport, which is around 10 miles northeast of central Madrid.
