OVER 40 passengers sustained minor injuries after a plane veered off the runway during takeoff and caught fire at an airport in Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality at around 8 a.m. Thursday, airport sources said.

The Tibet Airlines Flight TV9833, which was scheduled to depart from Chongqing and fly to Nyingchi in Tibet, was carrying 113 passengers and nine crew members on board, said the sources.

The crew members aborted the takeoff after discovering an anomaly in the Airbus A319 aircraft. The plane caught fire on the left side of its nose after veering off the runway.

All people aboard the plane were evacuated and the injured were rushed to a hospital for treatment.

One runway of the Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport was closed and the other two were operational, according to the Southwest Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

An investigation into the accident is under way.

(Xinhua)