On May 9, 2024, a Transair Boeing 737 aircraft overran the runway at Dakar International Airport in Senegal while en route to Bamako.
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A plane carrying dozens of passengers skidded off the runway before takeoff at Senegal’s main airport on Thursday, injuring at least 10 people and temporarily halting airport facilities, the Senegalese airports and Senegalese Transport Ministry said.
Blaise Diagne Airport said an investigation was underway into the cause of the accident, which occurred around 0100 GMT as a Transair Boeing 737-300 chartered by Air Senegal was preparing to fly to Mali.
Nighttime footage shared on social media showed passengers fleeing a plane whose left wing appeared to be on fire. Smoke billowed into the sky as the plane came to rest in long grass and deployed its emergency slides.
Reuters could not immediately verify the videos, but late Thursday a Reuters reporter at the airport saw a Transair-branded plane on the grass next to the runway, which was cordoned off with red and white tape.
The airport said there were 78 passengers on board the plane and 11 were injured, four of whom were seriously injured. The transport ministry said the plane was carrying 79 passengers and reported 10 injuries, including one of the two pilots on board.
The airport was closed immediately after the incident but reopened around 1100 GMT, the airport said in an online post.
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