SINGAPORE: Sixteen Malaysians were among the 211 passengers aboard Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight SQ321 from London to Singapore, which was forced to make an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok, earlier today.
However, in its latest update at 10.35pm on its Facebook page, SIA did not specify their condition.
There were also passengers from Australia (56), the UK (47), Singapore (41), New Zealand (23), the Philippines (5), Ireland (4), the US (4), India (3), Indonesia (2), Canada (2), Myanmar (2), Spain (2), Germany (1), Iceland (1), Israel (1) and South Korea (1) on board the flight.
Suvarnabhumi International Airport director Kittipong Kittikachorn said the one fatality in the incident was a 73-year-old British man.
SIA said the flight encountered sudden extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin at 37,000ft about 10 hours after departure from Heathrow Airport, forcing the pilot to declare a medical emergency and divert the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to Bangkok.
SIA said, as of 7.50pm, 18 people were hospitalised while 12 received outpatient treatment. The airline added that the remaining passengers and crew were being examined and given treatment, where necessary, at Suvarnabhumi International Airport itself.
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“SIA is working with the authorities on the investigation into this incident,” the airline said.
It added that an SIA team is on its way to Bangkok to provide further support and that, in the meantime, it was working with local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary assistance.
Relatives seeking information may call the Singapore Airlines hotline at: +65 6542 3311.
