This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

A plane was forced to make an emergency stop in Zimbabwe after hitting a warthog on the runway.

The Air Zimbabwe airliner veered off the runway at Harare international airport after colliding with the animal, a commonly found wild pig with protruding tusks.

"Unfortunately our plane, which was going to Bulawayo, hit a warthog on the runway and was forced to make an emergency brakes stop," Peter Chikumba, the chief executive of Air Zimbabwe, was quoted as saying by the South African Press Association.

"The plane had 34 passengers ... fortunately they are all safe and no one was injured."

The Chinese-made MA60 aircraft hit the warthog while taxiing along the runway minutes after the departure of Joseph Kabila, the Democratic Republic of the Congo leader who was in Harare for talks with Zimbabwe's unity government.

A passenger on the 5.15pm flight said the plane skidded off the runway. "The passengers were all evacuated but some of us are scared and traumatised over the whole incident," the passenger said. "The plane was damaged as it skidded off the runway."

Air Zimbabwe said it had an "enviable safety record".