*ISLAMABAD - Boeing 737 slid off a runway into a river after crash-landing at a Florida naval air station Friday, officials said. No fatalities have been reported.*
The plane carrying 143 people, including a crew, from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba ended up in shallow water next to the air station in Jacksonville, with all passengers safely evacuated, naval authorities said.
“There were 136 passengers and seven aircrews on board and all have been accounted for,” Naval Air Station Jacksonville said in a statement.
Twenty-one adults were taken to local hospitals, but none were critically injured, the Jacksonville sheriff’s office said on Twitter. Others were treated for minor injuries at the scene.
Navy security and emergency response personnel, including some 90 firefighters, were called to the scene.
Images showed the plane lying partially submerged in water after the crash-landing. “All alive and accounted for. Our fire and rescue teams are family to all,” Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry tweeted.
Teams were working to control jet fuel spilling into the St Johns River, he added. The “Rotator” flight from the US base in Cuba carries military personnel and family members.
Boeing said it was aware of the incident and gathering information. -APP/AFP