Bangladeshi plane slides off Yangon runway, injuring all 33 aboard
This handout picture taken and released by Myanmar Department of Civil Aviation on May 8, 2019 shows a Biman Bangladesh airlines passenger after it slid off a runway at Yangon International airport in Yangon. (AFP Photo)


All 33 people on board a Bangladeshi plane, including two pilots and two crew members, were injured after the plane skidded off the runway at Yangon International Airport on Wednesday evening.

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines Dash-8 Q400 from Dhaka to Yangon skidded off the left side of the runway at Yangon while landing at 6:22 p.m. (1222GMT), the airline announced on social media.

The plane was severely damaged.

Most injuries were minor and 17 people were admitted to a hospital, Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury, told Reuters. Eleven others were released after treatment at the airport clinic, local media said.

"The main reason, the pilot told me, was the weather – crosswinds," Chowdhury said, "When he was trying to land... suddenly the aircraft jumped, went up and went down heavily."

A photo published by the Myanmar Times showed the plane halfway off the runway with its fuselage apparently broken.

Shakil Miraj, general manager for Biman Bangladesh, also blamed bad weather for the crash.

In addition to Bangladeshis, the passengers included nationals of Myanmar, Canada, China, India, France and Switzerland, reported local daily the Dhaka Tribune.

The airline flies between Yangon and Bangladesh's capital Dhaka four days a week.

A spokesman for Myanmar's Department of Civil Aviation declined to comment, saying the department had not received a report of the incident from the ground.