Emirates plane catches fire after emergency landing in Dubai

An Emirates airlines plane burst into flames on Wednesday shortly after it made an emergency landing at Dubai International Airport.

Dubai's government said flight EK521 which took off from Thiruvananthapuram, India earlier today had crash landed at the airport at around 1pm local time.

Emirates officials said all 282 passengers and 18 crew on board were safely evacuated from the burning fuselage.

"They said they're safe and alright, but that they felt a great panic as the plane was on fire," a man waiting for relatives who were on the flight said.

"I'll be comfortable when I see they are safe," he added.

Following the accident, dramatic footage appeared on social media showing the jet exploding on the runway with huge plumes of smoke.

It remains unknown what the exact cause of the explosion was.

Authorities from Dubai's airport said all arrivals and departures had been delayed until further notice.

Kuwait-based former pilot Sami al-Nusuf told media that, "Emirates airlines has proven itself from past incidents in handling high pressure situations and its record has been clean so far."

Planemaker Boeing said in a statement that it was monitoring the situation in Dubai and it would collaborate with Emirates to gather more information about the accident. ​