Plane bursts into flames on runway of Tokyo airport as hundreds of passengers escape
A Japan Airlines aircraft that was carrying passengers burst into flames on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda airport after a collision with a coast guard plane.
All 379 passengers, including eight children, and crew on board Flight 516 were evacuated, a feat described as a “miracle” by a former pilot.
However of the six people aboard the coast guard plane, five crew have been found dead while the pilot was able to escape.
Flames were seen coming out of the windows of the Airbus A-350 as it skidded down the tarmac after landing.
The fire quickly took hold and grew to an inferno as the hull broke in two, despite fierce efforts from teams of firefighters to control the blaze.
Dramatic video taken by a passenger looking out of the aircraft window shows the plane moving down the runway, leaving a trail of smoke and burning with an orange light.
Sounds of loud rumbling from the engines can be heard as the plane speeds along the tarmac and inside the plane an alert sounds repeatedly.
The unknown passenger said “I thought I was going to die” in their post on X alongside footage showing what looks like smoke inside the cabin.
All runways at Haneda – Japan’s busiest airport – are currently closed as at least 70 fire trucks and other vehicles work to extinguish the blaze.
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Inside the Japan Airlines flight as it caught fire
Evacuation of Flight 516 ‘a miracle’
Japan Airlines says the flight landed at Haneda where it then collided with a coast guard aircraft.
It was seen travelling along the runway with flames on board before coming to a stop, as the fire engulfed the airliner.
Rodger Whitfield, a former commercial pilot, told Sky News “I think first of all, you’ve got to say that we just witnessed a miracle.
“The way they got all those passengers off that aeroplane is almost beyond belief…
“For the crew to have got all the passengers off, it’s a miracle. There’s no two ways about it.”
There were no life-threatening injuries reported among those evacuated from the jet, according to Japan Airlines.
Another former pilot, Alastair Rosenschein, said it could have been “so much worse”.
The Airbus A-350 aircraft – Flight 516 – had departed from Shin-Chitose airport in Hokkaido.
Five coast guard crew found dead
Six people were aboard the coast guard plane, which had been headed for Niigata airport base to assist with the ongoing earthquake relief effort.
The pilot of the smaller plane escaped, the coast guard has said, but the remaining five crew are reported by Japanese broadcaster NHK to have been found dead.
The aircraft was a Bombardier Dash-8, a propeller driven short-haul plane that typically have between 50 and 80 seats.
Pilot and aviation consultant Tim Atkinson told Sky News that the planes weigh 20-something tonnes and are “not anything like the size of the A350s” but are “sizeable enough to have a significant volume of fuel on board”.
World
Kenya protesters ‘shot dead’ and fires started in parliament after controversial tax bill passes
Protesters in Kenya have reportedly been shot dead and fires started inside parliament after politicians voted in favour of a controversial tax bill.
At least 10 people were killed, according to paramedic Vivian Achista, after police opened fire when protesters entered the parliament compound.
Another paramedic said at least 50 more people were injured by the gunfire.
Images from the scene appear to show several motionless bodies on the ground.
Thousands were on the streets of Kenyan capital Nairobi on Tuesday to demand politicians vote against the new taxes.
Video from inside parliament showed tables and chairs overturned and smashed, while footage outside showed fires, tear gas and water cannon.
Protesters could be heard shouting “we’re coming for every politician” and some lawmakers were forced to flee parliament through a tunnel.
The office of Nairobi’s governor was also was set ablaze and unrest was reported in other towns and cities.
Former US President Barack Obama’s half sister, the Kenyan-British activist Auma Obama, was teargassed during a live interview with CNN.
Thousands protested in Kenyan capital Nairobi. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Police also sprayed water cannon at protesters. Pic: AP
The bill will introduce new taxes, including an eco-levy raising the price of goods like period products and nappies.
A proposal to tax bread was removed after public outcry – with many Kenyans frustrated over the rising cost of living in the East African country.
There have been protests at every reading of the bill, with Tuesday being the third and final round.
The country’s president, William Ruto, must now sign-off the law but can send it back to parliament if he has objections.
Demonstrators climb on a water cannon truck. Pic: Reuters
The Kenya Human Rights Commission shared a video of police shooting at protesters and said they would be held to account.
Addressing President Ruto, the commission wrote on social media: “The world is watching your descent into tyranny! Your regime’s actions is an assault on democracy.
“All those involved in the shooting – actively or passively – must be held to account.”
Pic: AP
Pic: Reuters
The president had earlier said he wanted to have dialogue with the protesters and was “proud” of them.
But security forces have been accused of abducting prominent Kenyans, especially those with large social media followings.
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The Kenya Law Society president, Faith Odhiambo, said 50 Kenyans, including her personal assistant, had been “abducted” by people believed to be police.
Kenyan broadcaster KTN News said authorities threatened to shut it down over its coverage of the protests, while internet services also experienced severe disruptions during the unrest, according to internet monitor Netblocks.
The unrest comes as around 200 Kenyan police landed in Haiti as part of a UN-backed contingent hoping to stabilise the country after months of unrest and gang violence.
US authorities have agreed to drop their demand for Julian Assange to be extradited from the UK after reaching a plea deal with the WikiLeaks founder.
In return for pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information, Assange will be sentenced to time served, 62 months – the time he has already spent in a British prison, according to court documents.
Once the guilty plea is accepted by a judge, the 52-year-old will be free to return to Australia, the country of his birth.
Read more: Timeline of Assange’s 13-year legal battle for freedom
American prosecutors had alleged that Assange put lives at risk when he helped former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks put online in 2010.
He has been locked in a legal battle in the UK over his extradition, which included him entering the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2012 prior to his detention in Belmarsh prison – where he has been since May 2019.
Assange at the airport after leaving prison. Pic: WikiLeaks
‘Julian is free!’
In a post on X, WikiLeaks said Assange left Belmarsh on Monday morning after being granted bail by the High Court. By the afternoon he was at Stansted Airport where he boarded a plane and left the UK.
“After more than five years in a 2×3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars,” the organisation said.
Mrs Assange also took to social media, sharing a video montage of her husband in a car and then boarding a plane.
She wrote: “Julian is free!!!!
“Words cannot express our immense gratitude to YOU – yes YOU, who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.”
Mrs Assange also shared an image on X of her husband video-calling her from Stansted airport on Monday.
Stella Assange speaking in London on 26 March. Pic: PA
Assange’s plea and sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday morning, local time (Tuesday evening UK time) on Saipan, one of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The hearing is taking place in the US Commonwealth territory because of Assange’s opposition to travelling to one of the 50 US states and the court’s proximity to Australia.
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Assange leaves UK after deal with USA
Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton told Sky News this morning that the Wikileaks founder is “overwhelmed to be out of prison”.
Mr Shipton added: “He’s been on a plane for a very long time now… I’ve been speaking to him this week and just going through all the details with him.
“He’s been very anxious, very excited, and he’s looking forward to spending time with his family and being free, being able to have the sun shining on his face, see the birds, go for a swim in the ocean back in Australia.
“He’s very much looking forward to that.”
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Assange brother praises ‘global effort’
Craig Murray, a friend of Assange, told Sky News the news was “absolutely wonderful”.
He said: “The whole family is totally elated that we have finally got an end to this terrible saga.”
Mr Murray said the entire ordeal has been “very taxing” on Assange with his imprisonment taking a toll on both his physical and mental health.
He added: “We are lucky that he is a very resilient man and he will recover and we will get our Julian fully back.”
More than a decade-long fight
Assange has been fighting extradition to the US for more than a decade.
Analysis: Plea deal marks end of a transatlantic tug of war
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Australian PM: ‘We want Assange home’
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Who is Julian Assange?
In a January 2021 ruling, then district judge Vanessa Baraitser said he should not be sent to the US, citing a real and “oppressive” risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.
Later that year, US authorities won a High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way towards Assange’s extradition.
In June 2022, the UK government approved the extradition of Assange to the US, with then home secretary Priti Patel having signed the extradition order.
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In February of this year, he made one final attempt under UK law to avoid being sent to the US.
In March, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Assange’s legal arguments – but said unless assurances were given by the US, he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
These assurances were that Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment – which protects freedom of speech in the US – that he would not be “prejudiced at trial” due to his nationality, and that the death penalty would not be imposed.
Three months later, in May, two High Court judges ruled that he would be allowed to appeal against being extradited, would not face the death penalty and that he could rely on the First Amendment if he faced a trial for spying.
The Australian government said it continues to provide consular assistance to Assange.
“Prime Minister Albanese has been clear – Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and there is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration,” a spokesperson said.
At least eight people are dead after a fire in an office building in the city of Fryazino outside Moscow on Monday, according to Russian emergency services.
Two people jumped to their death from the top floors of the burning eight-storey former Russian electronics research institute on Monday and at least six others died in the fire, the state-run TASS news agency reported.
More than 130 firefighters and 50 vehicles tackled the flames, which had spread from the fifth floor to the seventh, according to TASS.
Pic: Reuters/Governor of the Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov via Telegram
Black smoke billowed from the building outside Moscow and flames roared up its walls.
Some people were trapped on the top floors but were unable to escape.
A video released by the Russian Emergency Ministry showed fire engines and helicopters battling the fire which spread across 5,000sq m.
The interior structures of the building collapsed, the ministry said, and an explosion was heard as gas cannisters exploded in the flames.
Pic: Reuters/Governor of the Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov via Telegram
“The extinguishing operation is complicated by the presence of gas-air mix canisters inside the building,” said the press office to TASS news agency.
The building is located about 15.5 miles (25km) northeast of the capital and is shared by a number of different companies.
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One man was shown jumping from the upper floor of the building by the Baza Telegram channel.
Another with serious burns fell from the upper floors, footage published by the Shot Telegram channel showed.
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It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.
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