Tyrone Siu/Reuters
- A cargo plane skidded off the runway into the sea at Hong Kong airport at around 3:50 a.m. local time.
- The plane collided with a security patrol car on the north runway and pushed it into the sea.
- Two security officers who were in the car have died, per the Hong Kong airport authority.
Two people are dead after a Boeing 747 cargo plane landing at Hong Kong International Airport veered off the runway and into the sea on Monday.
According to a statement from Hong Kong’s civil aviation department, the incident happened at around 3:50 a.m. local time.
The department said the flight “deviated from the North Runway after landing and ditched into the sea.”
The plane skidded on the runway and “crashed through the fencing”, said Steven Yiu Siu-Chung, the executive director for Hong Kong’s airport operations, during a press conference on Monday.
While skidding on the runway, the plane collided with an airport security patrol car and pushed the vehicle into the sea, Yiu said.
Two security staff members were in the car. One was certified dead at the landing site, while the other was declared dead at a hospital, Yiu said.
Officials said during the Monday press conference that the patrol vehicle was a safe distance from the runway before the collision.
Yiu said the car was “outside the fences” and on a patrol route around the airport’s northern coast, and “definitely did not run out onto the runway.”
The two ground security officers had worked at the airport for seven and 12 years respectively, Yiu said.
Four crew members on board the cargo plane were rescued and sent to the hospital, a fire service department representative said at Monday’s press conference.
In total, 213 firefighters and emergency aid officers were deployed, along with 45 vehicles and ships, per the fire service department.
The south and center runways at Hong Kong’s airport remain operational, per Hong Kong’s airport authority. The north runway remains closed as of press time.
The over 1,000 flights scheduled to operate at Hong Kong’s airport will not be affected, airport officials said on Monday.
Photos have emerged from the landing site that show the plane’s body in pieces, with the tail section separated from the fuselage.
Tyrone Siu/Reuters
The cargo plane was arriving in Hong Kong from the Al Maktoum International Airport, per the department.
The incident is currently under investigation, representatives from Hong Kong’s airport authority said on Monday.
Emirates confirmed in a statement to Reuters that the plane’s crew are “confirmed to be safe,” and that there was no cargo on board.
Emirates did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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