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A plane departing from Denver, in the United States, collided with a pedestrian who was on foot during take-off. The latter, whose identity has not yet been established, has died, the airport said in a statement. An investigation has been opened.

A take-off that turns into a tragedy. This Friday, May 8, at around 11:20 p.m., an Airbus 1321 that was taking off on runway 17L at Denver International Airport, in the United States, hit a pedestrian who was on foot, report the airport as well as American media. "Frontier Flight 4345 reported hitting a pedestrian during takeoff," the airport said in a statement.

ABC News, an American television channel, quickly reported that the person hit had "been at least partially burned by one of the engines" and that at least one passenger had suffered minor injuries. "The pedestrian had crossed the perimeter fence and was hit barely two minutes later while crossing the track. The pedestrian died, he is not believed to be an airport employee and his identity has not yet been established," the airport published a few hours later.

The runway closed for the duration of the investigations

Emergency crews responded to the scene and transported the 224 passengers by bus to the terminal, Denver Airport said. "We stop on the track, we just hit someone, we have a fire in an engine... There was one person crossing the runway," one pilot told air traffic controllers, according to a recording posted on ATC.com.

The airport also reported that "a brief fire broke out in the engine, but it was quickly brought under control." "Smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff," Frontier Airlines, an American low-cost airline, told CNN. An investigation has been opened by the Denver Police Department alongside the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the federal agency responsible for investigating transportation accidents in the United States. For the time being, the authorities have explained that runway 17L will remain closed for the duration of the investigations.