An Air India Express flight has crashed at the Mangalore. It jumped the runway, and it crashed into the wooded area beyond it before going up in flames. There were 166 on the board the plane, with a crew of an additional six, when it crashed around 6:10am Saturday morning local time.The flight was coming in from Dubai when it crashed.

An Air India Express passenger plane crashed in flames after overshooting the runway in the southern city of Mangalore on Saturday, killing most of the 166 people on board.

The state-run carrier said at least eight people had been rescued from the burning wreckage of the Boeing 737-800 which was carrying 160 passengers and six crew on a flight from Dubai.

Eyewitnesses said the aircraft had touched down before careering off the end of the runway into a shallow gorge and bursting into flames at around 6:30 am (0100 GMT).

Television footage showed at least three survivors being stretchered into a nearby hospital.

Television images showed the plane had partially broken up, with smoke billowing from the main fuselage, as rescue workers sought to douse the fire with foam.

Rescue teams had to struggle down steep, wooded slopes to reach the plane, and were shown carrying body parts away from the site.

The airport is located some 20 kilometres outside the coastal city of Mangalore, which is around 320 kilometres west of the Karnataka state capital, Bangalore.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel was due to fly to the site from New Delhi later Saturday.

Many Indians from Karnataka and other southern states work in Gulf cities such as Dubai as construction workers, domestic staff and in other low-paid jobs.