Tragedy this afternoon in Amsterdam , in the Shipol airport, where a person died after being sucked into the engine of a departing passenger plane . The accident occurred on the apron outside the busy hub terminal as a KLM flight was preparing to depart for Billund in Denmark. “Today an accident occurred at Schiphol during which a person ended up in the engine of a running plane,” the Dutch flag carrier KLM said in a statement.
“Unfortunately the person has died,” the airline added, without revealing the victim's identity . The national newspaper De Telegraaf writes that at the moment it is not yet clear whether he is a passenger or an employee . The Dutch border police, responsible for security at the Netherlands' largest airport, said the passengers were taken off the plane and an investigation was opened. The aircraft involved is a short-range Embraer jet, used by KLM's Cityhopper service which operates flights to other nearby destinations such as London.
Schipol Airport, which last month alone counted over 5 and a half million passengers – boasts very strict safety and security measures. However, they were not enough to avert the worst.
(Unioneonline/vf)
