Smoke forces emergency exit from Emirates plane in Karachi

KARACHI: A Pakistani civil aviation spokesman says smoke inside the cabin of a Dubai-bound Emirates plane forced an emergency evacuation before the plane took off from Karachi airport.

The spokesman, Pervez George, says the plane came to a halt on the tarmac and all 82 passengers onboard and the crew had to scramble out of the Airbus 320 by jumping down an emergency chute after smoke started coming out of the cabin.

George says everyone got out safely and all the passengers were taken to a lounge to wait for another aircraft.

The source of the smoke was not immediately known.

George says other flights at the Karachi International Airport have not been affected and that the incident is being investigated.

According to a spokesman for Emirates, the cabin crew smelt smoke when the plane was taxied. The spokesman added passengers of the affected plane have been rescheduled to fly to Dubai on EK-603 at 11:00 PM tonight.