184 passengers and crew evacuated as Ryanair Boeing plane catches fire on runway in Italy

More than 180 people were evacuated Thursday from a Ryanair Boeing passenger jet after it caught fire while taxiing to take off at Brindisi Airport in southern Italy.

The incident comes two days after a tire blowout on another of the airline’s Boeing planes during landing led to the temporary closure of Milan Bergamo Airport.

A spokesperson for the airport in Brindisi confirmed there had been a fire that halted air traffic for several hours.

Ryanair, the Irish budget airline group that operates Europe’s largest aircraft fleet, said all 184 passengers and crew were safely evacuated on the runway after Thursday’s incident.