Engine fire forces evacuations on JetBlue flight

An engine fire forced the evacuation of a New York-bound JetBlue flight before it could take off on Saturday, Puerto Rico airport officials said.

Puerto Rico airport authority official Rolando Padua said in a statement that the 186 passengers aboard were evacuated after the pilot halted the A-320 at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT) before it could take off. Firefighters at Luis Munoz Marin airport then extinguished the fire.

He said three people suffered minor injuries because of the emergency evacuation.

Flight 704 had been scheduled to land at John F. Kennedy Airport at 10:37 p.m. Padua said the airline was working to put the passengers on a different flight Saturday night.