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Dubai airport shut after accident Dubai airport shut after accident
(about 5 hours later)
Dubai international airport could be closed for up to eight hours after 14 people were slightly injured in an aircraft accident, officials say. Dubai international airport was forced to close for more than seven hours after a Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane aborted its take-off on the runway.
The details of the accident were not clear, but it involved a Biman Bangladesh Airlines aeroplane carrying 236 passengers and crew. Up to 15 people were slightly injured in the accident, in which the plane's nose suddenly dived towards the ground and it skidded to a halt.
Flight BG006 from Dubai to Dhaka "had a minor accident during take-off," the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority said. One unconfirmed report said the accident was caused by a wheel failure.
It said all the passengers and crew had been evacuated from the plane. Some 71 flights to and from the airport - the busiest hub in the Middle East - had to be diverted or cancelled.
An official said there was no indication that terrorism had played any part in the incident. "There was a failure to take off and then the nose of the plane hit the ground," a spokeswoman for the United Arab Emirates civil aviation department, Shamma Lootahshe, told the AFP news agency.
The aviation authority said the airport would be closed for at least eight hours to run through safety procedures to make sure the runway was safe for other planes. Flight BG006 from Dubai to Dhaka was carrying 236 passengers and crew, all of whom were hurriedly evacuated from the plane.
Incoming flights are being diverted elsewhere. Ground emergency crews swarmed round the aircraft, which left huge black skid marks on the runway.
"Fifteen people on board were slightly injured, most of them in the panic that erupted when the accident occurred, and have been taken to hospital," Ms Lootahshe said, adding that most of the passengers were Bangladeshis.
Passengers stranded
Some 35 incoming flights were rerouted to neighbouring airports while 36 departures were cancelled, a spokesman told BBC News.
The accident took place around 0630 (0230 GMT), and the airport did not re-open until after 1400 (1000 GMT).
Some tourists found themselves stranded.
"We were told that the flight was cancelled and to go the ticket desk to rebook. But there are no seats today or tomorrow. We have nowhere to go. They said hotels are all full," said British visitor Rachel Blackwell.
A spokesman said it was not clear how long the backlog would take to clear.