Two hurt as fire breaks out on London-bound plane in Las Vegas

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Two Passengers Are Injured After a Fire on a British Airways Plane in Las Vegas
Two Passengers Are Injured After a Fire on a British Airways Plane in Las Vegas

Two people have been hurt after a London-bound British Airways plane caught fire on a runway at a Las Vegas airport.

The left engine of the Boeing 777-200 burst into flames at McCarran International Airport, forcing its 159 passengers and 13 crew to evacuate through emergency slides.

The airport said all passengers and crew had made it off the plane and two passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The plane was set to depart for Gatwick when the crew noticed the fire and evacuated all on board.

Jacob Steinberg, a Guardian sports reporter who was on the flight, said the captain told passengers there was a "catastrophic" engine failure.

He tweeted: "Just evacuated on a British Airways flight at Las Vegas airport after an engine caught fire. Don't think anyone hurt.

"Was asleep as the plane took off. Came to a crashing halt. Smell of smoke. Initially told to stay seated, then shout of evacuate.

"Could smell and see smoke but was on other side of plane. One person said fire melted a couple of windows.

"They opened the back door and slide went down and smoke started coming in plane, followed by mad dash to front. A lot of panic."

He added: "A few have cuts and bruises from the slide down. They've been bandaged up. One young woman was taken away by paramedics, but looked OK."

Sky quoted a British Airways spokesman as saying "we are looking after customers" following the incident.

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