Airliners collide at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, passengers safe

TORONTO – Dozens of passengers were evacuated from an aircraft at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on Friday, after a plane under tow struck an arriving jet that was waiting to park, sparking a small fire, the airport authority said.

Fire and emergency services responded to the collision between the two planes from Sunwing Airlines and Westjet Airlines, which happened at 6:19 p.m. (2319 GMT), the Greater Toronto Airport Authority said in a statement.

Calgary-based Westjet said it had unconfirmed reports of “minor injuries” in the incident, but that all 168 passengers and six crew members on board its plane were safe and accounted for.

The jet, a Boeing 737-800, had just arrived in Toronto from the resort of Cancun, Mexico, and was waiting to proceed to the gate at the time of the collision, Westjet said

Sunwing, part of the privately held Sunwing Travel Group, said there were no passengers or crew onboard its plane at the time of the collision, and that the aircraft was being towed by ground handler Swissport International Ltd.

A spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board, Canada’s transportation regulator, said that a team was headed to the airport to investigate.

source: interaksyon.com

At least 9 dead as bus ferrying students collides with truck in California

LOS ANGELES -- At least nine people were killed and 32 injured on Thursday when a tour bus carrying high school students collided with a FedEx truck in Northern California, a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said.

The Philippine embassy told InterAksyon.com that the consulate general in San Franciso is checking whether Filipinos are among the casualties.

The crash happened after the driver of the truck lost control of the vehicle, crossed over a divider on Interstate 5, hit a passenger vehicle and then the tour bus, CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader said.

Clader said the bus was carrying high school students and other passengers to Humboldt State University for a tour. The crash took place near the community of Orland, about 95 miles north of Sacramento.

She said 32 of the injured were taken to hospitals in the area. Their condition was not immediately known.

A spokeswoman for FedEx Corp said the company was aware of media reports that one of its trucks had crashed into a tour bus in California.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in the tragic accident on I-5 in California," said spokeswoman Bonnie Kourvelas.

She said the condition of the truck's driver was unknown.

"We are cooperating fully with authorities as they investigate," Kourvelas said.

source: interaksyon.com

48 injured in Amsterdam two-train crash, Dutch media reports say

THE HAGUE - Two trains collided outside the Dutch city of Amsterdam on Saturday injuring 48 people, Dutch media reported.

"There has been an accident," a Dutch police official said asking not to be named. The accident happened near the western Amsterdam station of Sloterdijk, Dutch news agency ANP reported. - Agence France Presse

source: gmanetwork.com