7 hurt as plane catches fire in Las Vegas

Aviation authorities say the fire broke out in the left engine of the 257-seat Boeing 777 shortly after 4:00 pm (2300 GMT), prompting the crew to abort takeoff and evacuate terrified passengers.

"There were 159 passengers and 13 crew on the flight," McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas said.

British Airways, which said there were two fewer passengers on board, described the cause of the fire as being due to a "technical issue."

Reports say the blaze was quickly put out by some 50 firefighters who rushed to the site within minutes along with other emergency vehicles. 

Passengers described scenes of panic on the plane with one witness saying there was "a lot of screaming" as fumes filled the cabin and the crew deployed the emergency slides.

Some of the passengers posted dramatic images and videos that showed plumes of smoke and flames engulfing the aircraft.

"Just got evacuated from our flight#BA2276 plane caught fire somehow omg," passenger Dominic Worthington said on Twitter.

 'Gathering more information' 

McCarran Airport said traffic on runway number three, where the incident took place, had been suspended but flights were operating normally from the three other runways.

"We're aware of the incident at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas," Boeing said in a statement. "Our teams are currently gathering more information."

In 2014, a British Airways plane heading to Lyon, France, was forced to turn back to London's Heathrow Airport after a witness saw flames "spitting" out of the engine on takeoff.