Saudi World Cup team’s plane suffers engine failure and catches fire mid-flight

FOOTAGE of a fire on the plane carrying Saudi Arabia’s World Cup team has emerged after one of its engines failed as the players flew to Rostov-on-Don for their next match. WATCH HERE

THE plane carrying Saudi Arabia’s World Cup team suffered a fire in one of its engines as the players flew to Rostov-on-Don for their next match, the Saudi football federation said.

The aircraft landed safely after what one of the Saudi players called a “simple malfunction”.

“It was a small fire in one of the engines, the right engine, but the plane landed safely,” association president Ahmad Al Harbi told Saudi sports TV channel KSA.

Flames shooting from the plane's wing had everyone alarmed.

One of the Saudi players, Hatan Bahbir, said in a video on the federation’s Twitter account: “We arrived safely and we are all fine... it was a simple malfunction’.”

In the video, someone off-camera asks him if he was scared. He replies: “No, no. Well, of course we were scared a bit, but thank God.”

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation said in a statement it “would like to reassure everyone that all the Saudi national team players are safe, after a technical failure in one of the airplane engines that has just landed in Rostov-on-Don airport, and now they’re heading to their residence safely”.

The team were flying to Rostov-on-Don for their second match, against Uruguay on Wednesday, after they were thrashed 5-0 by Russia in the opening game of the tournament

Policemen guard around a hotel housing the Saudi Arabia's national team in Rostov-on-Don