Tragic day for Kerala, says Tharoor after Air India Express flight skids off runway

“Tragic day for Kerala. First the deaths in Munnar & now this: I hear both pilots have died. Hope rescue efforts will succeed in saving all the passengers,” the MP from Thiruvananthapuram tweeted soon after the news of the accident broke.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday said it was a “tragic day” for Kerala after an Air India Express flight from Dubai skidded off the runway at Kozhikode airport and broke up into two, and hoped that rescue efforts will succeed in saving all the passengers.

One of the persons injured after an Air India Express flight skidded off a runway while landing at the Kozhikode airport is brought for treatment to the Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode, Kerala. (AP)

“Tragic day for Kerala. First the deaths in Munnar & now this: I hear both pilots have died. Hope rescue efforts will succeed in saving all the passengers,” the MP from Thiruvananthapuram tweeted soon after the news of the accident broke.

Thr Air India Express flight with 191 passengers and crew skidded off the tabletop runway and fell into a 50-foot deep valley breaking up into two parts on Friday evening, police sources said.

At least two people were killed in the accident.

Many people have been rushed to nearby hospitals and the condition of some of them is said to be serious.