Saudi Arabia plane (Twitter)
Cape Town – Saudi Arabia’s official football team plane caught fire in mid-air as they travelled to their next World Cup match on Wednesday.
The Green Falcons who suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat to tournament hosts Russia were on their way to Rostov in preparation for their second Group A fixture when the incident happened.
Flames were seen coming from one of the engines of the Russian Airlines Airbus as they were flying ahead of facing Uruguay on Wednesday.
A statement from the football association said: “The Saudi Football Federation wishes to reassure everyone about the safety of all members of the mission of the national team after a minor technical malfunction in an engine.
“The plane landed a few minutes ago at Rostov on Don Airport, and UNOMIG personnel are now safely heading to their residence.”
Videos uploaded to Twitter showed fire shooting from the engines of the plane underneath the wings.
No news for an emergency landing? This is the Saudi team plane which they use to travel in Russia for their next match against Uruguay.@flightradar24 pic.twitter.com/qe8uBQmywK
— A. ???? (@AhmedMashaly24) June 18, 2018
Saudi Arabia’s team plane landing in Rostov On Don for their #WorldCup match
It seems to be on fire ??
— World Cup 2018 Related (@WorldCup18Info) June 18, 2018
