Explosion on London-bound Easyjet plane sparks emergency evacuation on Crete runway
, updated
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An explosion on a London-bound EasyJet plane triggered an emergency evacuation on a runway in Greece .
A power bank and e-cigarettes in a passenger's bag are thought to be the cause of the explosion which occurred shortly before take-off.
The doors of the plane, which was flying from Heraklion in Crete to London , opened and evacuation slides were activated.
Passengers were safely off the plane within 'minutes' but the flight to London was cancelled, according to creta.gr24.
Instead, the 236 travellers - reportedly including two children - were forced to take another plane that evening.
Police forces rushed to the scene to investigate the incident.
A spokesperson told MailOnline: 'easyJet can confirm that flight EZY8216 from Heraklion to London Gatwick was evacuated during boarding prior to departure, due to a fire in a passenger's cabin bag.
'Fire services attended the aircraft and cabin crew evacuated the aircraft in line with procedures.
'Customers are currently being looked after in the terminal and a replacement aircraft and crew have been arranged to fly customers home later today. Safety is our highest priority.'