A Boeing 737-300 aircraft has crashed during take-off in Senegal. 

The plane bound for the Malian capital Bamako went off the runway in the early hours of Thursday, Dakar’s Blaise Diagne airport said in a statement.

A clip taken by one horrified traveller showed a female customer sprinting away from the scene of the wreckage as flames poured from the 737’s left engine, lighting up the night sky.  

More images later showed the plane, operated by Senegalese carrier Transair, nestled in the dirt with a gaping hole in the left engine that was covered in firefighting foam in the aftermath of the blaze.

Emergency crews rushed to evacuate the passengers, eleven of whom were injured, four seriously so – though no deaths have been reported – as flights from the airport were suspended.

An inquiry is under way to determine the causes of the incident. 

Boeing has not commented on the incident, nor has Transair, the private company from which Air Senegal chartered the plane.

Though it is not yet known what caused the crash, it comes as the manufacturer faces a deepening crisis over its safety record.

(BBC/Daily Mail)