Cargo hold fire forced SIA flight to make emergency landing

Passengers being evacuated from flight SQ425 on Sunday evening.

KUALA LUMPUR: Fire in the cargo hold forced a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight to make an emergency landing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Sunday evening.

Singapore Airlines flight SQ425 from Mumbai to Singapore, carrying 190 passengers touched down in Sepang at about 3.55pm, after reporting a "technical error".

Fire and Rescue Department officers were despatched to the scene to assist in moving passengers off the plane before opening the cargo door.

“The fire had already been put out by plane’s fire fighting mechanism when it landed,” said Selangor Bomba operations chief Mohd Sani Harul.

He said the fire was contained in the cargo hold, so smoke did not find its say into the passenger section of the plane.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

A Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) spokesman earlier told Bernama that flight SQ425, which had departed from Mumbai, India at 8.44am, Sunday was expected to arrive in Singapore at 4.44pm.

“The plane landed safely and all its passengers and crew were also reported to be safe, with no injury sustained,” he said.

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