A plane slid off the runway at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen International Airport on Wednesday killing three and wounding 179 people. The Pegasus Airlines plane, with 183 people on board, overran the runway while landing, caught fire and broke into three parts.
The governor of Istanbul tweeted that the accident took place on Wednesday evening when the plane was returning from Turkey`s western city of Izmir. He told reporters that the plane could not grasp the runway because of bad weather conditions, and fell toward a road from a height of 30-40 meters.
In a report by Xinhua news agency, the Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca informed that the wounded are being administered medical care.
According to reports, there are people still trapped under the wreckage of the plane and the rescue operation is continuing. Also, there are reports of the presence of American and Chinese citizens among the passengers who were onboard the plane at the time of the accident.
The airport was reportedly closed to air traffic until further notice.
(With agency inputs)
