45 killed as jet swerves at Madrid airport runway
By Harold Heckle
The Associated Press
MADRID, Spain — Spain's Interior Ministry says 45 people are dead after an airliner bound for the Canary Islands swerved off the runway and caught fire during takeoff from the Madrid airport.
Another 19 were seriously injured, the ministry's office for the greater Madrid region said.
Spanair flight JK5022 was bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands on Wednesday, a popular vacation spot off West Africa, the company said.
The ministry said there 178 people on board.
At the airport, helicopters and fire trucks dumped water on the plane, which ended up in a wooded area at the end of the runway at Terminal 4.
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