Peruvian officials said a fire truck that collided with a LATAM Airlines plane on a runway at Lima’s international airport was taking part in a nearby fire drill and entered the runway without authorization, ABCNews.go.com reported.
Flight LA2213, operated with an Airbus 320neo, was taking off from Lima’s airport for the city of Juliaca in southern Peru on Friday when the truck entered the runway and was hit by a wing of the plane. Part of the plane caught fire, but none of the crew or passengers were injured.
However, two airport firefighters in the truck were killed and a third was injured.
The firefighters were participating in a disaster response exercise, officials said in a news conference Saturday. They said the drill was part of the preparations for a new runway, scheduled to be ready next January, the report said.
VIDEO: A320 Airliner Slams into Fire Truck on Peru Runway; Two Firefighters Killed