British plane catches fire on US runway

Firefighters stand by a plane that caught fire at McCarren International Airport, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015, in Las Vegas. An engine on the British Airways plane caught fire before takeoff, forcing passengers to escape on emergency slides. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A British Airways jet has caught fire on the runway at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, forcing the passengers and crew to escape down the emergency slides.

“There were 159 passengers and 13 crew on the flight,” according to the airport’s Twitter account. “Two were transported for minor injuries.”

British Airways flight 2276 was bound for London’s Gatwick Airport when the blaze broke out, reportedly in the left engine. The fire was extinguished within minutes, McCarran Airport authorities wrote on Twitter.

The aircraft, which appeared in online photos to have sustained major damage, was described as a 275-seat Boeing 777-200.

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