Firefighter killed in Dubai crash, probe ordered

A firefighter was killed in the line of duty at the Dubai International Airport following the emergency landing of Emirates airline flight EK521 on Wednesday.

The Dubai government and the carrier, however, are still not clear on the cause of the accident.

Footage on social media showed thick black smoke billowing from the aircraft. Arriving planes were diverted to other airports, Emirates said. Emirates said it had “no further information on what may have caused the accident”.

There were a total of 74 foreigners on board including 24 from the UK, 11 from the UAE and six each from the US and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Dubai airport authorities suspended all operations after the Emirates flight accident. A total of 21 flights, including two to India, departing from Dubai were cancelled.

“Emergency response teams at Dubai airport have fully extinguished the fire on the Emirates plane,” a media office tweeted after the accident.

Sai Bhaskar, a passenger on the flight, said most of those travelling in the plane were from Kerala. “There was no announcement about any technical snag. We felt as if the flight first landed, went up again and hit the ground. When smoke engulfed the flight, we realised there was something amiss and we felt there was some danger,” he said.