BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/02/2008

Early Morning Accident: Plane crashes on takeoff at Zvartnots, no fatalities

A plane carrying 18 passengers and three crew crashed on takeoff early this morning at Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport. No fatalities were reported, with six reported hospitalized and others treated at the scene.

The plane, a CRJ-100, was operating a flight for Belavia Airlines bound for Minsk. As it took off at about 4:15 a.m., the plane flipped, broke into and burst into flames. According to a report by the General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia, immediate rescue efforts evacuated all people out of the burning plane.

Civil Aviation Authority spokeswoman Gayane Davtyan confirmed to ArmeniaNow that all passengers on board the plane were Armenians, with six of them citizens of Georgia. All crew members are citizens of Belarus.

An inquiry has been started into the cause of the accident. Davtyan says no further details will be reported in the interest of the inquiry until after its completion.

(Based on reports by news services)

Source:

http://armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=2822&lng=eng&IID=1172

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