20 die as airliner crashes in fog on final approach to runway

TWENTY people died yesterday when a small airliner crashed in fog as it made its final approach to a Luxembourg airport.

Five people were pulled out alive but three later died.

The Luxair turboprop Fokker-50 was on a regular flight from Berlin's Tempelhof airport carrying 19 passengers and three crew when it crashed six miles short of Findel airport in bad weather.

"We have 20 fatalities. Three of the survivors who got out, died when arriving at hospital," said police spokesman Vic Reuter.

Rescue workers took over three hours to free the injured pilot trapped in the cockpit. A Luxair official said he was eventually taken to hospital, but his condition was not known.

"This is a true nightmare for all concerned," said Luxair chief Christian Heinzmann.

Luxembourg Transport Minister Henri Grethen said he expected most casualties to be Germans from Berlin travelling to the Grand Duchy.

He said the control tower had received no distress signals from flight LG9642/LH2420 before it lost contact.

The Fokker, which had been in service since 1991, crashed in a farmer's field between the villages of Roodt-Syr and Niederanven.

The side of the plane was ripped open.