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Emirates flight catches fire after emergency landing in Dubai

Posted at 7:08 AM, Aug 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-03 07:35:59-04

An Emirates flight en route from India appeared to catch fire while making an emergency landing at Dubai International airport on Wednesday.

“We can confirm flight EK521 from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai has been involved in an accident at Dubai International,” the airline posted on their official Twitter account.

“There were 275 passengers and crew on board. Our main priority now is the safety and well-being of all involved,” the post added.

Emergency response teams have been activated and all passengers and crew have been safely evacuated, the Dubai Government Media Office said on their Twitter account.

All departure flights from the airport have been delayed until further notice, it added.

Gear collapse?

CNN’s Richard Quest said pictures of the stricken airliner indicate that the front landing gear may have collapsed and that the plane slid. That would possibly lead to a fire, he said.

According to Quest, Dubai-based Emirates is the largest airline in the world by available seat kilometers, while Dubai (DBX) is now the busiest international airport for international passengers.