At least 58 people were injured when a Continental Airlines plane taking off from Denver, Colorado, veered off the runway and caught fire, officials said Sunday. The Boeing 737 was departing from Denver International Airport late Saturday for Houston, Texas, when it “came off the runway,” airport spokesman Jeff Green said. The 112 people aboard Flight 1404 – 107 passengers and five crew members – were evacuated via emergency chutes, Green said, adding that crews on the scene quickly put out the fire. As of early Sunday “the updated number of total injuries is 58 passengers,” Green told National Public Radio. Two female passengers were in critical condition at the University of Colorado Hospital, the local newspaper, the Denver Post, reported. Green said that it is “really too early to tell” if weather played a role in the accident, saying that strong winds had been reported earlier but that there was no snow. The fire was so intense that melted plastic from overhead compartments dripped onto passenger seats, according to media reports. Firefighters said Sunday it was a miracle no one was killed. “It was a miracle ... that everybody survived the impact and the fire,” said Bill Davis, an assistant Denver fire chief assigned to the airport. “It was just amazing.” Davis, one of the firefighters who rushed to the scene, said the plane came to a rest about 200 meters from one of the airport's four fire stations. A crack encircled much of the fuselage near the trailing edge of the wings, and the left engine had broken loose and come to a rest about 30 feet (9 meters) away, Davis said. Passenger Emily Pellegrini said that as the plane headed down the runway, “It was bumpy, then it was bumpier, then it wasn't bumpy.” She told The Denver Post she wasn't sure the plane ever lifted off before veering hard to the right. The plane came to a rest in a shallow, snow-covered ravine between runways. Flat land is rare on the plains abutting the Rocky Mountains near Denver, and the airport was built on gently rolling country. The runways are elevated so rain and snow will drain away. “By the time the plane stopped we were burning pretty well and I think I could feel the heat even through the bulkhead and window,” wrote passenger Mike Wilson on updates he posted on Twitter using his cell phone.
