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KINGSTON - Forty passengers were injured when an American Airlines jet overran the runway and broke apart late Tuesday at Kingston's international airport, local authorities told Jamaican media.
Jamaican Information Minister Daryl Vaz told the Jamaica Observer newspaper that 40 passengers had been hurt and the injured had been taken to the Kingston Public Hospital, adding that there were no reports of fatalities.
"Preliminary reports indicate there are no serious injuries," American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said in a recorded statement.
Flight 331, carrying 148 passengers and six crew members, was en route from Miami to Kingston, the airline confirmed to AFP.
Local media said the Boeing 737 plane broke apart after landing in heavy rain at Kingston's Norman Manley International Airport at about 10:00 pm (0300 GMT Wednesday).
The head of TV Jamaica, Milton Walker, told CNN that a local official had confirmed four persons had serious injuries, but that most other injuries were minor.
A passenger told Walker the plane landed normally and that passengers applauded, but that it failed to come to a stop.
"Then there was a loud bang," Walker said. "That's when they (the passengers) knew something was wrong, when oxygen masks deployed and also they noticed the structure of the fuselage started to crumble.
"My information is that it's broken into three pieces," he said.
The airline would not speculate as to any possible cause of the incident, Smith said, adding that no other details could be confirmed.
The airline is working with US authorities including the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Authority, he said.
Typically the NTSB sends teams to the scene of crashes to determine their cause.
"The plane crashed and broke almost in front of me," passenger Naomi Palmer told the Observer as emergency vehicles raced to the scene.
- AFP/ir
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