From correspondents in Delhi, India, 06:33 PM IST

An Air Mauritius plane with 241 passengers and 11 crew on board aborted take off here Thursday afternoon after the pilot noticed a fire in the undercarriage of the aircraft, airport officials said.

'All the passengers and the crew members were evacuated safely,' an official of the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which operates Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, told IANS.

The cause of the fire, which was noticed at around 2.08 p.m., is yet to be ascertained. A DIAL official said it could be due to a technical fault in the aircraft. The Air Mauritius plane was to fly to the Mauritius capital Port Louis from here.

'We are yet to get details on how the fire occurred,' the official said. Within hours of the incident, flight movement at IGI airport was reported to be normal.

There was no immediate response from Air Mauritius officials here, but DIAL officials said passengers were taken to a hotel. 'We are trying to get in touch with the airline to know when and how they plan to fly their passengers to Mauritius,' said the DIAL official.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)