Plane explodes, all aboard escape

NAHA, Japan: A China Airlines jet from Taiwan exploded into flames at an airport in Okinawa after landing yesterday, but all 165 people aboard escaped alive, officials said. Police said terrorism was not suspected.

All 157 passengers - including two small children - fled the Boeing 737-800 unhurt on inflated emergency slides just minutes before the plane burst into a fireball, Japan's Transport Ministry official Akihiko Tamura told reporters.

The aircraft skidded on the tarmac on its way from the runway to the gate after landing, starting a fire that prompted the emergency evacuation, according to China Airlines spokesman Sun Hung-wen. The eight-member crew also safely left the plane, Sun said.