Six injured as plane leaves runway in Spain

MADRID, Mar 18 (Reuters) A plane carrying Spaniards returning from a visit to Algerian camps for Western Sahara refugees veered off the runway at Seville airport today, injuring six people, a government spokesman said.

The Air Algerie plane, carrying 101 passengers and seven crew, had been chartered by Spanish families who host Sahrawi children for holidays in their homes and who had gone to visit the refugee camps near Tindouf.

The aircraft ended keeled over on one side and partially left the runway, television pictures showed.

Passengers had to leave the aircraft by the emergency chute, according to Spanish television, which also showed ambulances ferrying passengers to local hospitals.

A government spokesman in the southern Spanish city of Seville said 45 people were taken to hospital for a checkup but only six were injured.

While most of the passengers were Spanish, there were five Sahrawi children on board the plane, the spokesman said.

The San Pablo airport was temporarily closed after the incident, he said.

The spokesman could not say what model of plane was involved but Spanish media reports identified it as a Boeing 737.

REUTERS DKS RN2017