A Latam Airlines plane crashed and partially caught fire on Friday at Lima's airport after colliding with a fire truck. In the unusual incident, which is under investigation, two firefighters died and a third was injured. However, it was confirmed that no crew members or passengers were harmed.
The general commander of the Fire Department, Luis Ponce La Jara, confirmed the deaths and the injured person in the department and explained that the wing of the plane impacted a fire truck cab.
Lima's Jorge Chávez airport issued a statement confirming the deaths resulting from the impact of flight LA2213, which was covering the Lima-Juliaca route.
Initially, it was reported that the plane had caught fire due to an impact, without determining what object was involved, and it was even stated that thanks to the actions of the firefighters, the fire was quickly brought under control.
As the minutes passed, it was confirmed that -unfortunately- a fire truck from that force had been hit on the runway, where it was arriving along with other vehicles to assist -as a precaution- the flight that had returned to land due to some malfunction.
In a video that circulated on social media, the truck is seen getting too close to the runway, putting itself in the path of the aircraft which touches it with its wing and one of its engines; as a result of this collision, the plane catches fire.
LATAM Peru, meanwhile, also issued a brief message on its official Twitter account, stating: "We regret to confirm that flight LA2213, which covered the Lima-Juliaca route and was operated by LATAM Airlines Peru, suffered an accident on the ground. There are no fatalities among passengers or crew members," without mentioning the deaths of the firefighters.
Source: Popular of Argentina
