Photo shows the accident site of a plane sliding off the runway at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Turkey on Feb. 6, 2020. Two Chinese nationals were seriously injured in the accident, the Chinese Consulate-General in Istanbul said Thursday. Three people were killed and 180 others were injured when a plane slided off the runway at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen International Airport. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui)
ISTANBUL, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and 180 others were injured when a plane slided off the runway at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya announced on Thursday.
The accident happened at 6:19 p.m. on Wednesday when a plane of Turkey's Pegasus Airlines with 183 people on board skidded off the runway shortly after landing.
At a press conference in the airport, Yerlikaya said 22 foreign nationals from 12 countries were among the passengers on the plane flying from Turkey's western city of Izmir.
Yerlikaya earlier noted that the plane could not grasp the runway because of bad weather conditions and fell toward a road from a height of 30 to 40 meters.
Video footage aired by Turkish TV broadcasters showed that the front part of the aircraft was torn apart, and the plane was split into three parts.
