Dubai - Netizens, local and international, also paid tribute to a young firefighter, who sacrificed his life to save hundreds on-board.
Published: Thu 4 Aug 2016, 1:46 PM
Updated: Thu 4 Aug 2016, 5:52 PM
- By
- Yousuf Saifuddin Kapadia
As Emirates flight EK521 took off from Trivandrum in India on August 3 (Wednesday), they would have never imagined that this particular flight would make headlines all over the world by the time it landed in Dubai.
After landing at Dubai International Airport, social media was abuzz about an 'emergency situation' developing on the tarmac - of one of the busiest airports in the world - at about 12.450pm local time.
The news was confirmed shortly after by Emirates Airline, with a series of tweets to keep the world apprised of the situation on ground that the airline - later - termed as an 'operational incident'.
The Boeing 777 appeared to have landed on its belly.
While, 13 had suffered minor injuries, there were no fatalities among the 282 passengers and 18 crew.
With updates and details pouring in from Emirates, Dubai Airports and relevant authorities, giving passengers, residents and families a clear picture of the current situation, here are some of the reactions on social media on the incident, especially lauding the crew for their presence of mind and evacuating the passengers in record time.
It is noteworthy that the crew was the last to disembark the plane, according to the Emirates chairman.
As brave firefighters battled the raging fire, which burnt off the top of the Boeing 777 fuselage, one Emirati firefighter lost his life while saving hundreds on-board - Jasim Issa Mohammed Hassan.
A Ras Al Khaimah resident, the martyr was a firefighter in the airport civil defence.
Not only did Emirates Group chairman and CEO, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, pay tribute to his sacrifice but even UAE leaders did, including His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Dubai Ruler, Interior Minister Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan among others.
As the story of the martyred firefighter went viral online, netizens also paid rich tributes to Al Balooshi, who gave his life in the line of duty and saved nearly 300 lives:
As photos and videos of the incident -taken by passengers and eyewitnesses - went viral online, a particular video taken by a passenger on-board the under fire plane has garnered a lot of attention from international media - mostly shock!
People are finding it absurd as to how this person was busy recording the incident the panic on-board while an evacuation of the plane was underway, with the frantic crew urging passengers to slide down the inflatable slides.
'The internet' was also shocked at how passengers were more concerned about their luggage than their lives, as most of them could be seen blocking the way while they took out their luggage from the overhead compartments.
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