US, Australia and Japan envoys express grief over Air India Express plane crash

Envoys from the US, Australia and Japan said they are deeply saddened to hear about the Air India Express accident in Kerala''s Kozhikode and conveyed their thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families.

An Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 passengers on board overshot the tabletop runway at Kozhikode airport on Friday night while landing in heavy rains and fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into two, killing at least 18 people.

US envoy Ken Juster said the US mission is deeply saddened to hear the news of the accident.

"On behalf of the U.S. Mission, we are deeply saddened by the news of the Air India accident in Kozhikode. The victims and their loved ones are in our thoughts and prayers," he tweeted.

Satoshi Suzuki, Japan''s ambassador to India, hoped that search and rescue would conclude as quickly as possible.

"My heart bleeds for the air accident of #AirIndiaExpress in Kozhikode and landslide in #Idukki. My thoughts are with those who lost their beloved ones and are injured. I hope search & rescue will conclude as quickly as possible," he said. Australian envoy Barry O''Farrell said his thoughts and prayers are with families of the victims.

"Deeply saddened by the news of the Air India Express Plane accident in #Kozhikode. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims. @airindiain #KozhikodePlaneCrash," O''Farrell said in a tweet.