ROME: A man died after being sucked into the engine of a plane preparing to take off at Bergamo Airport in northern Italy on Tuesday, an airport spokesperson said.

The victim, who was `neither a passenger nor an airport employee`, forced his way onto the runway, where he was `pursued` in vain by airport security, according to the spokesperson for airport management company SACBO.

According to Italy`s Corriere della Sera daily, the man was a 35-year-old Italian. It said he burst into the airport, then used an emergency exit to rush onto the runway towards an aircraft preparing for take-off.

Earlier in the day, Spanish airline Volotea wrote on social media that its flight from Bergamo to Asturias in Spain was involved in an `incident` at 10:35am. -AFP