Breaking News:Plane crashes in south India, at least 160 dead

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – An Air India Express  passenger plane from Dubai crashed outside an airport in  southern India today, killing at least 160 people when it  burst into flames after overshooting the runway and ploughing  into a forest.
There may have been five or six survivors, local media  said.
One eyewitness said the plane skidded off the runway in  rain at Mangalore airport in Karnataka state.
Air India said the plane was a Boeing 737-800, with 166  people on board, including six crew members. Air India Express  is the budget arm of state-run carrier Air India.
“At least 160 passengers have died in the crash,” V.S.  Acharya, home minister of the southern state of Karnataka, told  reporters. “At least five to six people have been taken to  hospital, their condition is not known.”
First indications are that the crash was an accident,  officials say.
Television channels said the plane crashed around 6:30 a.m.  (0100 GMT). TV images showed it struck a forested area. Flames  were seen blazing from of some of the wreckage as rescue  workers fought to bring the fire under control.
“The plane had broken into two. I jumped out of the plane  after it crashed. I saw two other people also come out,”  Abdullah, a survivor from the plane, told local channel TV9  from hospital.
“There was tyre-burst kind of noise. I tried to get out of  the front but saw that there was a big fire. So I went back  again and jumped out from there.”
One television channel showed a fireman carrying in his  arms what seemed to be the remains of a child. Charred bodies  and an engine lay in the forested terrain.
“The flight had already landed. There was slight rain. The  flight skidded off,” eyewitness Mohiuddin Bava told CNN-IBN  channel. “After that it caught fire. Villagers, everyone there,  came to rescue. The plane wings are right in front of me now.”
Air India Express is the low cost arm of Air India. The  budget airline started about five years ago. This is the first  crash involving an Air India Express plane, according to an Air  India spokesman.
Air India is a state-run loss making carrier. The  government has been trying to infuse funds to revive the  airline against stiff competition from private carriers.