ROME: A man died after being sucked into the engine of a plane preparing to take off at Bergamo Airport in northern Italy on Tuesday, an airport spokesperson said.

The victim, who was “neither a passenger nor an airport employee”, forced his way onto the runway, where he was “pursued” in vain by airport security, according to the spokesperson for airport management company SACBO.

According to Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily, the man was a 35-year-old Italian. It said he burst into the airport, then used an emergency exit to rush onto the runway towards an aircraft preparing for take-off.

Earlier in the day, Spanish airline Volotea wrote on social media that its flight from Bergamo to Asturias in Spain was involved in an “incident” at 10:35am.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2025