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Turkish airlines plane struck by lightning: official

A Turkish Airlines plane carrying 114 passengers was hit by lightning but landed safely in the western city of Izmir, an airline official said Friday.

The passengers panicked when the lightning sparked a fire in the plane's right engine, but the pilot activated a built-in fire extinguisher to put out the blaze.

The plane had taken off from Istanbul at 11:15 pm (2115 GMT).

There were no casualties.