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, which was arriving from Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport, had “deviated from the North Runway after landing and ditched into the sea.”
While skidding, the plane “crashed through the fencing” and collided with an airport security patrol car, pushing the car into the sea, said Steven Yiu Siu-Chung, executive director for Hong Kong’s airport operations, at a press conference on Monday.
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 had been a safe distance from the runway before the collision.
Yiu said the car was “outside the fences” and patrolling a route around the airport’s northern coast, and “definitely did not run out onto the runway.”
There had also been no distress signal from the cargo plane, Yiu added.
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.
Photos have emerged from the landing site that show the plane’s body in pieces, with the tail section separated from the fuselage.
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, but the over 1,000 flights scheduled to operate at Hong Kong’s airport will not be affected, per airport officials.
The incident is currently under investigation, officials said at the Monday press conference.
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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