TOKYO: All 379 passengers and crew of a Japan Airlines plane escaped a devastating fire that erupted after it collided with a smaller Coast Guard aircraft at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday.
However, five out of the six crew of the coast guard aircraft are unaccounted for, while the captain escaped, a Coast Guard spokesperson said. Live footage on public broadcaster NHK showed the Japan Airlines Airbus A350 aircraft bursting into flames as it skidded down the tarmac after landing. It was later overwhelmed by the blaze despite feverish efforts by rescue crews to control the fire. Miraculously, all 367 passengers and 12 crew were evacuated. Footage and images shared on social media showed passengers shouting inside the smoke-filled cabin and running across the tarmac away from the blaze.
The Coast Guard said the collision involved one of its planes that was headed to Niigata airport on Japan's west coast to deliver aid to those caught up in a powerful earthquake that struck on New Year's Day, killing at least 48 people. A spokesperson at Japan Airlines said its aircraft had departed from Shin-Chitose airport on the northern island of Hokkaido. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed relevant agencies to coordinate to assess the damage swiftly and provide information to the public, according to his office. Haneda has closed all runways following the incident, a spokesperson for the airport said.
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