26 in hospital after plane's 'brutal depressurisation'
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An emergency onboard a Ryanair aircraft flying from Britain to Spain has left 26 people in hospital.
The Ryanair flight was forced to make an unscheduled landing in France following a loss of cabin pressure, emergency workers said.
The plane landed at Limoges International Airport late on Monday (local time) as a "safety precaution", Ryanair said, adding the passengers were taken to hospital for ear problems.
The Boeing 737 was flying to Barcelona-Girona Airport in Spain from the south-western British city of Bristol, when a brutal depressurisation forced the aircraft to descend 8,000 metres in five minutes, police said.
Terrified passengers told how they had feared for their lives as the aircraft plummeted and oxygen masks dropped down.
Of the 168 passengers and seven crew, 26 were taken to hospital with minor eardrum problems, emergency workers said.
- AFP
