LEADS WITH NUMBER OF WOUNDED, WEATHER CONDITIONS AT TIME OF CRASH
By Alix Hardy
MEXICO CITY
At least 85 passengers were injured Tuesday when an Aeromexico plane with 101 people onboard crashed near Guadalupe Victoria International Airport in Mexico’s Durango state.
Flight 2431, an Embraer 190 aircraft with a capacity of 100 people, had been bound for Mexico City.
The Mexican airline reported earlier that there had been an accident at approximately 4 p.m.
“At least 85 have been injured in the crash, some with burns, but most of them lightly wounded,” Alejandro Cardoza, a spokesman for the state Civil Protection Agency, told local channel Milenio TV.
Forty-nine of them were transferred to various hospitals in Durango city, including the crew captain, who suffered a fractured femur, said the spokesman for the Red Cross in Durango, Mauricio Gorjon.
Cardoza said the plane was forced to land right after taking off. He said the weather at the time was problematic, with heavy rain and intense hail.
The Health Ministry later said on Twitter that “18 people are being transferred to Durango General Hospital 450 as a result of the accident, which happened close to Guadalupe Victoria International Airport”.
José Aispuro, the governor of Durango state, said no one was killed.
He said security and emergency personnel were en route to the accident site.
“I have sent security forces and emergency personnel to Guadalupe Victoria Airport to attend to the wounded.”
Transport Secretary Gerardo Ruiz Esparza confirmed the plane was carrying 97 passengers and four crew members when it crashed.
In the first videos and photos of the crash site, the plane appeared to be surrounded by smoke and had been partially consumed by a fire.
The airport suspended all activities until further notice.
