World Cup 2018 fever is spreading across the world, but Saudi Arabia’s national soccer team is just thankful to be safe after an engine fire on their flight Monday left the passengers terrified.
According to Reuters, the Rossiya Airlines Airbus A319 was traveling from St Petersburg to Rostov-on-Don in Russia where the Saudi team is scheduled to play Uruguay Wednesday when the aircraft began its descent for landing.
As the plane approached Rostov, it reportedly struck a bird that caused a technical issue with one of the engines. While a Rossiya spokesman denied there was any fire, a passenger onboard the flight shared a video on social media of the engine shooting out flames.
WATCH: #Saudi football team capture moment Russian plane’s wing catches fire.
The team landed safely in Rostov-on-Don after one of the engines on the plane carrying the players to a #WorldCup match suffered a fault https://t.co/VsFNLzXc2Y pic.twitter.com/S6ueEPaDAX
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) June 19, 2018
BREAKING: Saudi Arabia #WorldCup team plane catches fire in mid air – before landing in Rostov https://t.co/c5F6xrsQ9L pic.twitter.com/KAi8158Ydt
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) June 18, 2018
“Nothing threatened the safety of the passengers,” the Rossiya spokesman told Reuters. “The aircraft’s landing took place in a routine fashion. No warning was sounded during the landing.”
After the flight landed safely in Russia, the Saudi federation released images of players safely boarding a bus to the team hotel in central Rostov.
“I want to reassure you that we got to Rostov safely, it was a simple technical fault in the airplane but thank God we are now in the hotel and things are good,” Saudi team captain Osama Hawsawi said about the situation.
“Of course, we were a bit frightened, but thank God,” midfielder Hattan Bahebri added.