The KLM plane was carrying 249 people

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At least 560 people died when two jumbo jets collided on a runway in what is thought to be the world's worst disaster involving aircraft on the ground.

A massive explosion followed by a ball of fire erupted at Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, in dense fog as both airliners were taxiing for take-off at 1800 local time.

The sound of the explosion was heard across the island.

Early reports suggest a Boeing 747, belonging to Dutch national airline KLM, and a Pan American 747 travelling from Los Angeles to Las Palmas were involved in the accident.

No-one survived from the Dutch airliner which was carrying 249 passengers including crew, and was travelling from Schipol airport, Amsterdam.

The Pan-Am plane was a charter flight carrying 16 crew and 378 passengers and there were said to be about 60 survivors, the majority of whom were injured.

Rescue efforts

Eyewitnesses said the airport is now covered in dense black smoke following the explosions and emergency services are struggling to cope with the enormous numbers of casualties.

Rescue workers have been plunging into the burning wreckage to pull out survivors.

The army is expected to move in to help the rescue operation.

Neither airline was originally due to be at the airport but both were diverted from the much bigger Las Palmas on nearby Gran Canaria island after a terrorist bomb blast near the departure lounge.

Experts say it is too early to suggest the cause of the crash but many believe it was in part due to the extra number of flights and pressure on resources at the small airport following several diversions from Las Palmas.

It will once again place security at Spanish airports under the spotlight, hard pressed by package tour flights.

A crash of such magnitude before take-off has horrified industry insiders.

Previously the worst accident in aviation history was a Turkish airlines crash near Paris with the loss of 346 lives.

The rig was 235 miles east of Dundee

Reports say a massive wave hit one of the legs of the platform, causing it to break and send the 208 people on board into the sea at around 1830 GMT.

Some were able to make it to the lifeboats before the platform fully capsized while others were thrown into the sea as the rig began to tilt.

Most of those missing from the Alexander Kielland platform, which was situated 235 miles east of Dundee, are Norwegian.

There were some Britons and Americans on board. Many of the crew are thought to have been in the platform's cinema at the time of impact.

A spokesman for Phillips Petroleum, the American owners of the rig the platform was connected to, said: "The rig is now bottom up after capsizing completely and dropping people into the sea."

RAF and Norwegian helicopters have been sent to the area along with local ships who have been asked to help with the rescue.

An RAF Nimrod, complete with searchlights and flares is on its way to the scene.

However, poor weather conditions are making the rescue very difficult and there are reports of people being swept away as they attempt to reach rescue boats or neighbouringrigs.

The Norwegian Government is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the disaster.

The accommodation platform contains bedrooms, lounges, kitchens and leisure facilities for workers. It was attached to the Edda oil rig in the Ekofisk field where work was being carried out.

The platform is a semi-submersible that floats on two pontoons with legs supporting the main deck. It houses workers while they carry out jobs on the oil rigs.

This is the second major accident at Ekofisk field. A blow-out on the Bravo platform in 1977 caused a mass evacuation of all on-board.

rig: To provide with a harness or equipment; fit out（配备；装配）