AFP/Georgetown

Caribbean Airlines jet is seen broken at Cheddi Jagan International airport outside Georgetown yesterday. The packed Caribbean Airlines jet carrying 163 people crashed and broke in two as it landed in Guyana at night, injuring several passengers but killing no one
A jetliner carrying 163 people broke in half when it crashed landed in heavy rain and fog in Georgetown, Guyana, yesterday, but no fatalities were reported, officials said.
The Caribbean Airlines flight that originated in New York apparently touched down in the middle of the runway at Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan International Airport, then ran off the strip, crashed through a fence and finally stopped on a grassy slope near a road.
None of the 157 passengers and six crew members on the Boeing 737-800 jet were seriously injured, the airline said.
Emergency response teams were activated “and all passengers and crew have been evacuated,” said the Trinidad and Tobago state-owned airline.
Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy said that one person suffered a broken leg and several others sustained minor bruises.
President Bharrat Jagdeo rushed to the airport along with several high-ranking officials, including the transportation minister, local NCN television reported.
Passengers who escaped the plane, which crashed at 1:32am (0532 GMT) yesterday, told Guyana’s WRHM Capitol News television that the cabin was filled with smoke.
“Everybody was screaming like crazy,” a passenger from New York told Capitol News. “A guy jumped out and broke his foot. A lot of kids got injured.” The passenger was sitting in the rear of the plane and escaped with only minor injuries.
Airport emergency crews worked in the dark for the first few hours as they rescued several passengers from the wrecked plane.
The front section of the fuselage broke in the landing, briefly trapping passengers in the first class seats.
Soldiers and police cordoned off the area around the aircraft and Guyana officials closed the airport for nearly 10 hours, the airline said. Hundreds of passengers were stranded waiting for flights at the airport.