Nine dead as Turkish plane crash-lands in Amsterdam

Written By DNA Web Team | Updated:

Nine people were killed and more than 50 injured when a Turkish Airways plane broke up on impact as it crash-landed.

Nine people were killed and more than 50 injured when a Turkish Airways plane broke up on impact as it crash-landed at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Wednesday, officials and passengers said.

The Boeing 737-800 came down in fields around half a kilometer (mile) short of the main runway, splitting in two, before coming to rest close to residential homes on the outskirts of Amsterdam, the Dutch capital and largest city.

Ambulances and firecrews dashed to the crash at what is Europe's fifth busiest airport, and soon found themselves filling body bags, according to reporters at the scene.

Although the head of the carrier and Turkey's transport minister initially said there were no fatalities from the crash, the local mayor told a press conference that nine were known to have died.

"At this moment, there is according to our information nine deaths and more than 50 injured," Michel Bezuijen, mayor of the Haarlemmermeer municipality, told a press conference.

Twenty-five of the wounded were in a serious condition, the mayor added.

Turkish Airlines (THY) chief executive officer Candan Karlitekin told a televised press conference in Istanbul that the nine victims also included members of the plane's crew.

"We know that the nine victims were not all passengers," he said.