Gulf Air plane crashes into sea; 143 feared dead

MANAMA, AUG. 23. A Gulf Air airliner crashed into the sea near the Bahrain capital of Manama today, witnesses said. First reports said 150 persons were on board the Airbus A-320 which was on a scheduled flight to Manama from the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

The Qatar-based satellite television channel, Al-Jazeera, quoted a source in the Bahraini Information Ministry as saying the plane crashed after a fire in one of its engines. A rescue operation was under way, the Ministry said. - DPA

According to reports late in the night, the plane carried 135 passengers and an eight-member crew. BBC quoting a Bahrain official reported that the plane was about to land in Manama when one of its engines caught fire. The plane wreckage has been found and operations have commenced to find survivors if any, the official said.

Cairo Airport sources said the plane took off at 16.25 hrs. (local time) for Bahrain. The list of passengers was not immediately available.

(Reuters file photo shows a Gulf Air A320 - A40 - EG departing Athens in 1996. A plane similar to this crashed today.)

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