Beijing (TIP): Over 40 people were injured when a passenger plane of China’s Tibet Airlines with 122 people on board veered off the runway and caught fire while taking off in the country’s southwest Chongqing city on May 12.

All 113 passengers and nine crew members aboard the flight from Chongqing to Nyingchi in the Tibet Autonomous Region had been safely evacuated, Tibet Airlines said.

Over 40 people who sustained minor injuries had been hospitalised, China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported. Video footage posted by China Central Television (CCTV) showed flames and billowing black smoke from the fuselage of the Tibet Airlines plane on the tarmac at Chongqing Jiangbei international airport, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. People could be seen running from the plane after escaping via an evacuation slide at the rear door. (PTI)