A plane conveying Saudi Arabia who are participants in the Russia 2018 World Cup tournament suffered an apparent engine fire before it arrived safely in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Monday. “The fire was merely an accident” read one tweet from the national team’s verified account while another said the team was “heading to their residence safely.” Video making rounds on social media on social media showed what appeared to be a fire on the aircraft wing. A few posts showed Saudi players calmly disembarking the plane and then arriving at a hotel in Rostov-on-Don.
The plane was was provided by the the International Air Transport Association (IATA) organizational committee for the teams participating in the World Cup, the Saudi Football Federation later said in a statement posted to Twitter. Saudi Arabia plays Uruguay in the city on Wednesday after suffering a 5-0 loss to hosts Russia in the opening game of the tournament.
?| The Saudi Arabian Football Federation 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.
— Saudi National Team (@SaudiNT_EN) June 18, 2018
? | Our Saudi national team arrives at Rostov-on-Don safely#Worldcup#KSA#URUKSA pic.twitter.com/Lj5IUIwiWL
— Saudi National Team (@SaudiNT_EN) June 18, 2018