Fierce rain and winds lashed a plane carrying more than 190 people before it crash-landed and tore in two at an airport in southern India, killing at least 19 people and injuring over 170, officials said Saturday. 

The Air India Express Boeing 737, on a special flight from Dubai to bring back Indians stranded overseas by the coronavirus pandemic, overshot the runway at Kozhikode in Kerala state late Friday, plunged down an embankment and broke up, according to first accounts. 

Abdul Karim, a senior Kerala state police officer, said the dead included both pilots as well as infants aged 10 months and 18 months. 

Ten children are believed to have been among the 191 passengers on board. 

Two passengers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 after touchdown. The authorities are still screening others for the disease. 

It was a repatriation flight from Dubai operated by the government to bring Indians home during international travel restrictions due to the spread of COVID-19. Survivors are being rescued from Flight IX1344, a Boeing-737 evacuating Indian nationals from the UAE.

After initial investigations, officers of the General Administration of Civil Aviation said they saw thick scratches left by the aircraft tires on the runway and wreckage of the crashed flight nearby. Experts said the flight exceeded the speed by 2.5 percent when it landed. The flight recorder has been found, and the cause of the accident will be further investigated.

All personnel who were part of the rescue mission need to enter quarantine and take tests immediately, Health Minister K. K. Shailaja said.

She said the authorities are combing through the staff list, urging staffers who have had contact with passengers to report to the authorities. 

Amitabh Kant, who heads the government's planning commission, said the runway is on a hilltop with deep gorges on either side, making it difficult to land.

"The incident happened because of heavy rains and poor visibility. This is truly devastating," he told NDTV.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter offered his condolences to the families of those who have died. 

He wrote: "Pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. Spoke to Kerala CM @vijayanpinarayi Ji regarding the situation. Authorities are at the spot, providing all assistance to the affected."

Air India Express is a subsidiary of Air India.

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