Eight people were injured when a Ryanair plane suffered heavy turbulence caused by severe storms in southern Germany, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Bavaria, local police said on Thursday, reported dpa.
The plane, carrying 179 passengers and six crew members, was en route from Berlin to Milan on Wednesday evening when it experienced violent turbulence at around 8:25 pm (1825 GMT), which led to seven passengers and one crew member being injured, according to the statement.
Police initially reported nine injured.
The plane then made an unscheduled landing at Memmingen airport at 8:44 pm, some 100 kilometres west of Munich, to allow for the injured to receive medical care.
Three people were brought to hospital due to the severity of their injuries, including a two-year-old child who sustained bruises.
A Ryanair spokesman said the plane had been rerouted to Memmingen due to the turbulence, with the captain requesting medical assistance.
As local authorities did not authorize the aircraft to continue its flight, Ryanair organized buses to transport passengers to their destination overnight, police said. A replacement flight was organized on Thursday morning.
The storms also caused damage to residential areas in the region, with the winds lifting the roofs off several houses in the city of Ulm, according to the fire brigade.
Police and firefighters were called out to around 200 incidents in Bavaria due to the severe weather, mainly to deal with fallen trees and flooded basements.
A 61-year-old cyclist was injured when he crashed into a toppled tree blocking a road near Ingolstadt on Wednesday evening, police said.
The storms were also felt in the neighbouring Czech Republic, with firefighters deployed almost 500 times to clear fallen trees from roads and railway tracks and pump rainwater from cellars, according to a spokesman.
- Ryanair
- Emergency
- Landing
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
