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China Airlines plane engulfed in flames

Article from: Reuters

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August 20, 2007 02:30pm

A PLANE belonging to Taiwan's
China Airlines caught fire soon after landing on Japan's southern island of
Okinawa today.

The Boeing 737-800 plane, which had just arrived from Taipei, was already
being evacuated when the left engine exploded, ripping the plane apart,
officials and witnesses said.

"I saw several passengers evacuate from
the plane using a chute. After a minute or so, I heard the sound of an
explosion. It was a big explosion," said Tadahiro Hasuo, who told NHK he felt
the heat of the blast while passing the airport in a taxi.

The charred
remains of the plane lay broken on the tarmac near the terminal after the flames
were extinguished, an hour after the explosion.

The nose of the plane
sagged on its side, while the tail - emblazoned with the airline's pink plum
blossom symbol - was intact at the other end.

In between, the blackened
remains of the interior could be seen, with much of the roof of the plane gone.

Early investigations raised the possibility that leaking fuel may have
caught fire.

"We don't have any information that suggests the accident
was linked to terrorism. There is a possibility of the engine exploding and
catching fire due to a fuel leak," a Naha airport police official said.

One member of the ground crew had been injured, Kyodo news agency
reported.

The airline said the plane, which had 157 passengers and eight
crew, had just undergone scheduled maintenance.

"Everything was working
according to normal procedure. There was nothing wrong during the flight," China
Airlines spokesman Johnson Sun said.

China Airlines has a troubled
safety record with four deadly accidents in the past 13 years, including a crash
in the Japanese city of Nagoya in 1994 in which 264 people were killed.

Okinawa is a popular spot for beach holidays and the number of visitors
to Japan from other parts of Asia has increased in recent years, with the
lifting of visa restrictions.

- Additional reporting by Isabel
Reynolds and Leika Kihara in Tokyo and Ralph Jennings in Taipei

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The China Airlines 737-800 burns after an explosion iat
Naha on Japan's southern island of Okinawa. Picture: Reuters

Pictures:
Planes explodes in Japan

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Video: Plane in flames

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Plane explodes in Japan

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