Two firefighters dies in plane collision at Lima airport

• Two firefighters killed instantly after plane collides with fire truck at Peru’s main airport.
• Latam Airlines flight was preparing to take off for Juliaca, a city in southern Peru.
• Twenty passengers are being treated for injuries, of which two are thought to be serious.

At Peru’s main airport, a jet that was taking off collided with a fire truck, killing two firefighters instantly.

Just before 15:30 (20:30 GMT) on Friday at Jorge Chávez International Airport in the nation’s capital, Lima, a Latam Airlines plane crashed with a vehicle.

Social media videos show the plane veering down the runway, catching fire, and smoking before coming to a stop.

The airline said on Twitter that no passengers nor flight crew were killed.

An executive director of the hospital organization EsSalud claims that a 31-year-old firefighter is in a critical state.

Twenty passengers are being treated for injuries, according to Peru’s Ministry of Health, of which two are thought to be serious.

It is still unknown why the fire vehicle drove onto the runway as the plane was preparing to take off for Juliaca, a city in southern Peru.

The flight has been given the go-ahead to take off, according to Latam CEO Manuel Van Oordt at a press conference.

According to media, the prosecutor’s office declared that it was looking into the incident for possible manslaughter.

Flights at Jorge Chavez Airport have been halted through Saturday afternoon, according to Lima Airport Partners (LAP), which manages the airport.

There have been international aircraft diversions to Colombia, Panama, and a number of Peruvian destinations, including Iquitos, Pisco, and Arequipa.

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In a statement LAP added: “At this moment we are finding and investigating all the necessary factors that could determine the cause of this.”

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On social media, President Pedro Castillo praised the firefighters.

“I express my heartfelt condolences to the relatives of Ángel Torres and Nicolás Santa Gadea, brave firefighters who died in the accident,” he wrote on Twitter.

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“My thoughts and my prayers are with them. I pray for the recovery of the wounded.”

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