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What an awful disaster.India plane crash in Mangalore leaves about 160 dead
A plane has crashed on landing in the southern Indian city of Mangalore, with about 160 people feared dead.
Air India Express said there were eight survivors among the 160 passengers and six crew on board its plane.
Airline officials said the plane overshot the hilltop runway as it tried to land and burst into flames in a forested valley beyond.
The plane, a Boeing 737-800, was arriving from Dubai, with many Indian workers among the passengers.
Difficult access India map
The airline said the plane overshot the runway as it came into land at about 0600 (0030 GMT) and crashed into a valley.
Pre-monsoon rains were repored to be falling at the time.
Mangalore airport is located at the top of a hill with a forested valley at the end of the runway. Analysts say it presents challenges for pilots.
TV pictures showed rescue workers and local villagers scrambling on steep hillsides to search the smoking wreckage.
A Mangalore police official told the BBC that smoke from the crash site had made it difficult for rescue workers to gain access to the plane.
Mangalore police superintendent Subramaneshwar Rao, said: "Chances [of finding many survivors ] are very bleak as most of the plane has been burnt out."
"As far as the information available with us is concerned, eight persons were rescued and shifted to local hospitals in Mangalore for treatment," Air India official Anup Shrivasta told reporters.
Of the eight survivors, one had already been discharged, two or three were being treated for minor injuries and another three had serious injuries, the airline said.
Twenty-five bodies had been recovered.
BBC News - India plane crash in Mangalore leaves about 160 dead
I don't know if it's just me but I can't recall so many plane crashes occurring during the previous decade.