BBC- Plane crash update

At least 45 people have been killed after a passenger plane swerved off the runway at Madrid's Barajas airport, Spanish officials say. Several more were hurt when the Spanair plane bound for Gran Canaria left the runway with more than 150 passengers on board, just after 1445 (1245 GMT). There were reports of a fire in the left engine during take-off. TV footage showed smoke billowing from the craft. Helicopters and fire trucks were called out to dump water on the plane. Spanish journalist Manuel Moleno, who was near the area when the accident happened, told the BBC the plane had "crashed into pieces". "We heard a big crash. So we stopped and we saw a lot of smoke," he said. There are conflicting accounts about the number of deaths, with some reports suggesting most of the passengers on the plane may be dead. Mr Moleno said he had seen as many as 20 people walking away from the wreckage. The situation at the airport was chaotic, he said, with travellers desperately trying to call relatives on their mobile phones.