The Saudi Arabia squad’s plane engine caught fire mid-air as they travelled across Russia for their second World Cup match.
Saudi Arabia’s official team plane was forced to make an emergency landing after an engine caught fire in mid-air.
The team were travelling from St Petersburg to Rostov-on-Don ahead of Saudi Arabia’ second Group A match against Uruguay.
A statement from the carrier, Rossiya Airlines, claimed the incident was most likely caused by a bird in the engine.
As it came in to land, the plane “suffered a technical fault with one of its engines, with a bird getting caught seen as the preliminary cause,” an airline spokesman said.
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation released photographs of the players smiling and looking relaxed as they boarded a bus for their hotel in Rostov.
The Saudis were beaten 5-0 by Russia in the World Cup opener in Moscow last week.
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