BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Premier League title contender Aston Villa will be without Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans for eight to 10 weeks, manager Unai Emery said Wednesday.
The 28-year-old Tielemans was injured in the 2-0 victory over Newcastle at St James’ Park on Sunday. The win moved third-place Villa within four points of leader Arsenal.
Wednesday's announcement came amid other midfield injury worries for Emery, with Boubacar Kamara expected to miss the remainder of the season and captain John McGinn also currently unavailable.
In light of those absences, Villa signed Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz on loan from Juventus until the end of the season. He played for Villa from 2019-24, making 204 appearances.
On Thursday, Villa hosts Salzburg in its final group match in the Europa League. The English club and Lyon are the only two teams to have directly secured a spot in the round of 16 with a game to spare.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Braga's Diego Rodrigues, left, shields the ball from Nottingham Forest's Douglas Luiz during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between SC Braga and Nottingham Forest in Braga, Portugal, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)
Aston Villa's Jadon Sancho, right, celebrates with teammate Youri Tielemans after scoring the opening goal during a Europa League opening phase soccer match between Fenerbahce and Aston Villa, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
DENVER (AP) — A Frontier Airlines plane hit and killed a pedestrian on the runway of the Denver International Airport during takeoff, airport authorities said, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate.
The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday," the airport's official X account wrote.
A spokesperson for the airport said the pedestrian, who jumped a perimeter fence, has died. They said the unidentified person was hit two minutes after entering the airport. The person is not believed to be an airport employee.
“We're stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board and that an “individual was walking across the runway.”
The air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now" before the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”
Frontier Airlines said in a statement flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the pedestrian.
“The Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members,” the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”
Passengers were then evacuated via slides and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. The airport spokesperson said 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to local hospitals.
Denver Airport said the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified and that runway 17L, where the incident took place, will remain closed while an investigation is conducted. It is expected to open later today.
The pedestrian death came a day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while on the job at the Orlando International Airport. In a statement, the airline said the employee was killed Thursday night without providing details of the incident nor the name of the employee.
“We are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time,” the airline said. "We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred.”
FILE - A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International airport on Nov. 25, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
