153 killed in Madrid airport plane crash

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Smoke billowed up near Terminal Four from the remains of Spanair's Flight JK5022, an MD-82 jet bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, which broke into pieces in an accident which Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez said left 19 survivors.

The 15-year-old plane, with 166 passengers and nine crew, shot off the runway at 2:45 p.m. local time (1:45 p.m. British time), according to Spanair. The airline put the number of people aboard at a slightly higher figure than government officials.

Witnesses described a huge explosion.

"Only the tail was recognisable, there was wreckage scattered all over the place and dead bodies across a wide area. A lot of them were children," Ervigio Corral, who headed the emergency services' rescue effort, told reporters.

Survivors were flung from the plane by the force of the impact and landed in a stream, saving them from more severe burns, Corral said.

Alvarez said the cause of the accident seemed to be "an error in takeoff". But Spanish media and a source close to the situation said the plane's left engine, made by Pratt & Whitney, had caught fire.

The plane was originally due to take off at 1 p.m., but after moving away from the terminal and approaching the runway it returned because of a mechanical problem, a source close to the situation told Reuters. The source added he did not know what the problem was or what action mechanics took.

The flight was a code-sharing operation with Lufthansa serving the Canary Islands, a popular holiday destination for tourists from throughout Europe.

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