Death toll in Kerala plane crash rises to 16

A special flight carrying Indians stranded abroad because of the coronavirus back home skidded off a hilltop runway and split in two while landing Friday in heavy rain in the southern state of Kerala, killing at least 16 people and injuring 123 more, police said.

The dead included one of the pilots of the Air India Express flight, and at least 15 of the injured were in critical condition, said Abdul Karim, a senior Kerala state police officer. Rescue operations were over, he said.