DHAKA: A British Airways plane bound for London has caught fire at Las Vegas airport, forcing the evacuation of 172 people on board on emergency slides.

McCarran International airport tweeted that seven people "received medical treatment for minor injuries", reports BBC.

US Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the left engine of the Boeing 777-200 caught fire before take-off.

The plane was seen engulfed in flames and smoke. The fire was later put out.

Flight 2276 was bound for London's Gatwick airport.

There were 159 passengers and 13 crew members on board.

The airport tweeted: "Received first call at 4:13 PM (23:13 GMT); flames were spotted at 4:14, and by 4:14 response was underway."

It added: "@LASairport had the fire out and all passengers off BA flight by 4:18 PM - excellent work by our ARFF team."

Eyewitness Reggie Bugmuncher said she was waiting at a gate for her flight when she heard people saying: "Oh, my God."

She said looked out the window and could see "bursts of flames coming out of the middle of the plane".

Officials later said one runway was shut down, but three others continued to operate.

McCarran is a major airport in the US, handling more than 40 million passengers last year.

BDST: 0922 HRS, SEP 09, 2015
RS