Japan Airlines plane collides with aircraft carrying aid for quake-hit people

ISTANBUL - A Japan Airlines aircraft collided on Tuesday with a plane carrying aid for people affected by Monday’s earthquakes, the airlines and local media reported.

The flight 516 collided with a plane which "appears" to be a Japan Coast Guard aircraft after landing at Haneda Airport, it added.

According to Anadolu Agency citing local media, the flight was carrying 379 passengers and crew from New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido.

All runways at the airport have been closed following the incident.

All 379 people were rescued while the "status" of five crew members of the coast guard plane remains unknown, Tokyo-based Kyodo News Agency reported.

Japan’s coast guard said the aircraft was deployed for carrying aid to people affected by earthquakes that hit Ishikawa province, located along the seacoast on main Honshu Island on Monday.

At least 48 people have died in the recurring earthquakes in past 24 hours.

Footage broadcast on Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed that a large part of the aircraft is on fire at the Haneda Airport.

Airport authorities were seen working to extinguish the flames. - BERNAMA-ANADOLU AGENCY