Paris Plane Engine Fire Injures 8

Eight people were slightly injured on Wednesday when the engine of a passenger plane caught fire just before take-off from a Paris airport, triggering an emergency evacuation, officials said.

Photo: Paris Plane Engine Fire Injures 8

The Airbus A320 flown by low-cost Spanish carrier Vueling was preparing to leave Orly airport for Alicante with 169 passengers on board when staff on the ground spotted the flames, said a spokesman for Iberia, Vueling's major shareholder, AFP reports.

Eight passengers had chafed skin from using the emergency exit slides and were treated by airport personnel after the incident at Orly airport, Vueling airline and French police said. Some passengers were treated for shock.

"Before getting out, everybody was panicking inside the plane. When people heard about the incident, everybody was pushing each other to get out and eventually everybody went down the emergency slides," Arantza Urrejola, 38, a passenger told Associated Press Television News, The Associated Press reports.

Passengers complained that crews made them panic.

"A flight attendant was screaming. She was speaking Spanish. This triggered panic and people were stepping on each other," said passenger Soizic Prono, Xinhua reports.