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Turkey: Plane skids off Istanbul runway and breaks up, 120 injured

Xeni Jardin

Image: screengrab from Turkish television coverage of air disaster

Breaking News: There’s been an air disaster in Turkey. No deaths reported.

A Pegasus Airlines plane that was heading into Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport for landing skidded off the end of a wet runway, and broke into three pieces after landing on Wednesday.

Istanbul’s Governor said 120 people were injured.

There were no reported casualties.

171 were said to have been on board.

More from Reuters:

Ali Yerlikaya said the plane was carrying 171 passengers and six crew from the western province of Izmir. Emergency response teams took the wounded to hospitals in the area, he said, and broadcaster NTV reported that both pilots were critically injured.

“The plane could not hold on the runway due to poor weather conditions and skidded for around 50-60 meters,” Yerlikaya told reporters at the airport, adding that emergency teams were trying to rescue the last wounded passenger.

The plane split into three pieces after what Yerlikaya said was a drop of around 30 to 40 meters at the end of the wet runway. Footage showed the plane landing and continuing at a high speed off the runway.

Live tweets from regional and international news outlets below.

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