Ethiopian cargo plane catches fire in China

An Ethiopian Airlines plane. A cargo plane belonging to the carrier caught fire while loading cargo at Pudong Shanghai airport on July 22, 2020. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The cargo plane caught fire at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport Wednesday afternoon. 

An Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane caught fire in China on Wednesday, officials confirmed.

The plane was loading cargo at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in preparation for a regular flight to Santiago, Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement.

"The aircraft was on a regular scheduled cargo service from Shanghai to Sao Paulo, Santiago via Addis Ababa," the carrier said. 

The airline added, no one was hurt during the fire incident and that all ground staff and flying crew are safe.

It is not yet clear what caused the fire.

Ethiopian Airlines said investigation into the fire incident is underway.