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Gulf Air Airbus crashes off Bahrain

Ashok Tuteja in Dubai

A Gulf Air plane carrying 143 people plunged into the Persian gulf near the Bahrain International Airport after fire engulfed one of its engines late Wednesday night, regional news agency reports said.

The Airbus A320 crashed when it was making its landing approach to the Bahrain International Airport on a flight from Cairo.

Initially the Gulf News Agency was quoted as saying that the A320 was heading for Cairo from Manama.

The Airbus went down about 6 km from the airport.

Efforts were being made to retrieve the bodies and recover the plane's black box. However, it was not known whether there were any survivors.

Rescue operations were launched immediately after the mishap by the Coast Guard on orders from the Emir of Bahrain Sheikh Hamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifa, the news agency said.

Bahrain crown prince Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al-khalifa is at the Bahrain International Airport supervising the rescue operations.

UNI

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