A PLANE carrying 177 people skidded off the runway at an Istanbul airport, caught fire and split into three after landing in rough weather on Wednesday.
Officials said that no-one had lost their lives in the spectacular accident, but dozens of people were injured.
Live images broadcast on Turkish television showed several people climbing through a large crack in the severed aircraft and escaping onto one of the wings at the rear.
The Boeing 737 operated by Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines had flown into Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport from the Aegean port city of Izmir, NTV televion reported.
The plane was apparently buffeted by strong winds and heavy rain lashing Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city.
Fifty-two people were injured and taken to hospital, Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement on Twitter, but there were no deaths.
“Some passengers evacuated the plane by themselves but others are stuck inside and our rescuers are working to free them,” Transport Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan said on CNN-Turk television.
The plane was carrying 171 passengers and six crew members, the governor said, while Turkish media reports said there were 12 children on board.
Turkish media also said the two pilots, a Turkish national and a South Korean, were seriously hurt.
