Officials announced that at least 16 people were killed and dozens were injured as an Indian plane, coming from Dubai, left the runway at Calicut International Airport in Kerala, south of the country, in heavy rain.
A spokesman for India Aviation had said that the plane - a Boeing 737 - was carrying 191 passengers, and that among the victims was the pilot.
And local television networks reported that the fuselage of the plane was split in two, which belongs to the "India Express" airlines, a branch of the official Indian Airlines.
For its part, the Hindustan Times quoted local officials that the number of victims reached 20, including the pilot and his assistant, while more than 140 others were injured, some of them seriously.
According to initial reports on the circumstances of the accident, the plane landed at a high speed, then slipped off the runway and fell on the sides of the runway, when the pilots tried to control it.
Flight AXB 1344 was operated by the government for the repatriation of Indian citizens, in light of international travel restrictions in place due to the outbreak of the new Corona virus (Covid-19).