MIRACLE: No One Killed as Passengers Escape Flaming Wreckage of Plane Crash
An Aeromexico jetliner crashed in a field while taking off during a severe storm in northern Mexico Tuesday.
Survivors said the plane burst into flames after it hit the ground but stayed mostly intact.
The state civil defense office published photos of the plane lying on its belly and in flames. Ambulances lined up at the accident site to ferry the injured to hospitals.
While 49 people are in the hospital, no one was killed.
Some on the ground are calling it a miracle.
"It is confirmed that there were no deaths in the flight crash of @AM2431," Jose Aispuro, governor of the state of Durango, wrote on Twitter.
Se confirma que no hubo fallecidos en el accidente del vuelo #AM2431. En estos momentos se encuentra parte del Gabinete, encabezado por la Coordinadora @RosarioCastroL, para atender a los lesionados y cooperar con las autoridades del aeropuerto en la atención de éste suceso.
— José R. Aispuro T. (@AispuroDurango) July 31, 2018
An unidentified woman said she and her son managed to get out from a hole in the plane's fuselage.
"I unbuckled my son's seatbelt and we got out that way," she explained. "We jumped."
Other passengers managed to escape the wreckage as firefighters raced to the scene to put out the fire.
Father Esequiel Sanchez of Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe church near Chicago, was onboard the plane. He reportedly broke his arm in the crash. Officials at his parish said shortly after hearing about the crash on local news, the phone rang and incredibly it was Father Esequiel.
"He tell us that he is more or less ok. He's been checking out his body and probably has some broken bones," said Father Manuel Padilla.
The plane was carrying 97 passengers and four crew members and had just taken off when it went down and skidded to a stop.
Torres said the pilots were attempting to abort just after take-off, but it was too late.
Meanwhile, the plane's pilot is in critical but stable condition.
Many are rejoicing for what could have been a story with a very different ending.
"Let me tell you one thing, Sunday there's going to be a lot of people praying and asking for healing," said Alberto Espinoza, a parishioner at Father Sanchez's church.
