All news

Death toll in Turkish plane’s crash-landing rises to three — ministry

The plane had 183 people on board, including six crew members

ANKARA, February 6. /TASS/. At least three people were killed and nearly everyone on board received injuries of varying degrees during Wednesday’s crash-landing of a plane at an airport in the Turkish city of Istanbul, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday.

"Regretfully, three our citizens died. 179 people were hospitalized, three of them are in intensive care," the minister was quoted as saying by Turkey’s NTV channel.

According to updated information cited by the minister, the plane had 183 people on board, including six crew members.

A Boeing 737-800 plane of Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines, en route from Izmir to Istanbul, crash-landed at the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport on Wednesday. The aircraft skidded off the runway, split in three and caught fire. According to preliminary reports, bad weather is seen as the most likely cause of the fatal accident.