PLANE CRASH AT MADRID AIRPORT

A passenger plane bound for Gran Canaria has skidded off the runway on takeoff at 14:30 local time from Terminal 4 at Madrid airport today. It is a Spanair charter flight with around 160 people on board. At the moment there are conflicting reports of fatalities and injuries, but the national newspaper El Mundo is reporting at least 50 people have been killed and 20 injured, while local radio is stating there are 20 injured and none killed.

The cause of the incident remains unknown but there are reports of a fire in the left engine which caused the plane to abort takeoff and swerve. Smoke is billowing from the aircraft and Madrid Airport has declared a state of emergency.

You can get up to date information as more is known from Sky.news and BBC.news














"Reports say there was a fire on an engine and the take-off was aborted, causing the aircraft to swerve off the runway but it is not at all clear really what happened."