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passengers forced from a burning plane moments before the 777 was about to take off. 11:00, i'm bill ritter. >> i'm sade baderinwa. a close call. it was terrifying. passengers and witnesses posting pictures of the british airways plane on twitter and instagram burning on the runway at the airport in las vegas. >> eyewitness news reporter josh einiger here with the breaking news. >> reporter: 159 passengers and 13 crew were aboard that 777 bound for london. we're hearing from a passenger about that terrifying take-off attempt. >> we were just getting speed to take off and heard a big thud. i opened up the cover of my window and saw flames from the engine. we suddenly stopped, sat still for about a minute, waiting to hear what to do, then we just heard the pilot say to

emergency evacuate. >> reporter: it was thundering down the vegas run way at more than 90 miles per hour when the pilots aborted their take-off. and within moments the 777 was engulfed in flames. >> heavy fire services are on the way. >> reporter: passengers on nearby flights uploaded the terrifying images to social media while for a full minute the fire spread. >> we were all glued to the side of the plane watching this unfold. we could clearly see flames coming out of the left engine. obviously black smoke was engulfing the area. >> we are evacuating. we have a fire. i repeat. we are evacuating. >> when we saw the doors fly open and the inflatable slides come out, it was a mass exodus, if you will. there were a lot of people running away from the plane. >> reporter: a plane load of people sprinting for their

lives as firefighters arrived and put out the flames. several passengers sustained minor injuries. >> i commend the entire cockpit crew for doing what they were supposed to do. >> reporter: in fact, of all those passengers and crew, authorities confirm seven injuries, all minor, sustained as they slid down the emergency chutes. experts say it's too early to tell if the pilots aborted the take-off because of the fire or if the fire started when they jammed on the brakes. but everyone made it off alive. now to the september sizzler. it's not over yet. tomorrow another scorcher. looking at a live picture from central park, still balmy. tonight outside, shorts and tank-tops. meteorologist lee goldberg outside our studios on the

>> if you are under 30, event experienced a this hot. it was bang september of 1983 that we hit 97. it actually feels good now, but it was very humid, very warm. how about the 11:00 test. we are at 93 degrees. the average high this tomorrow of year is 78. it should be around 70, 69. it still feels like the middle 80s. newark at 98, a 96-year-old record that we broke. it was the 18th 90-degree day, and a record 61 straight days at or above 80 degrees. now we are in the mid-70s, lower 80s. watching some clouds. more will spill in tomorrow. a couple of sprinkles down the coast. there might be a spot storm tomorrow but it's that band of cold fronts over the great

here is what you need to know. we might be cooler tomorrow but it's still humid. the heat will break on thursday, but it will be via some very heavy downpours. for the first time in awhile we'll talk about flooding rains. bill and sade, back to you. >> lee, thank you. this kind of heat, a kind of disconnect to the notion of back-to-school weather. many schools dismissed early today and they will dismiss early tomorrow. just too darned hot. a.j. >> reporter: bill, this elementary school is one of several here in clifton without air conditioning, which is why district officials have decided to end classes early tomorrow. tonight i talked with students and parents who agree with this move and wish classes could be canceled altogether until temperatures cool off.

>> on a regular day you come home sweaty, so it's going to be very hot tomorrow. >> reporter: it's a ripple effect in districts across the area. here in clifton students will have an early dismissal in an attempt to beat the heat. >> the teacher has been moving us because it's really hot and i can't concentrate. >> it gets really hot there, like after gym and everything. when you go in the classroom there isn't any ac, or the lunchroom. >> reporter: parents say they appreciate the district's proactive approach but wish more could be done. however, with only so many days set aside for weather in the year, the district has to make hard decisions. >> we have to save our days for snow days. the fact that they are acknowledging it's very is hot, i think it's a great idea that they've made that quick call. >> reporter: concerns echoed and debated in school districts throughout connecticut where several schools dismissed early

tuesday and plan to do the same wednesday. and clifton high school will be releasing students at 11:48 tomorrow. middle schools will be released although 12:10, and elementary schools will be releasing at 1:00 p.m. a.j. ross, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> a.j., thank you. well, it's back to school tomorrow for 1.4 million new york city school students. tonight the department of education is telling eyewitness news it is ready to deal with the heat, saying in a statement, 95% of school buildings have air conditioning in some or all instructional space. officials will try to ensure that water is always available. watch how fast you are driving around school zones. 40 mobile speed cameras will be activated tomorrow along with 200 fixed cameras. radar will track vehicle speeds a quarter of mile in either

mayor de blasio is helping prep the city's youngest students. mr. de blasio's staff posting video on youtube today. the mayor in a pre-k classroom sharpening pencils, even vacuuming rugs. universal pre-k the mayor's biggest success. a bus driver in new jersey taking kids on a joyride. the driver for the bus company was apparently confused over the route after picking up kids in paramus. parents started calling cops when the kids were more than an hour late. no comment from the bus company. tune in to eyewitness news starting at 4:30 tomorrow morning for all the information you need on the first day of school. you can also find breaking news on our facebook and twitter

police are looking for a man armed with a shot dunn who tried to rob a deli on the upper east side this morning. he demanded money, cocked the gun several times. a store employee described to us the scary scene. >> he looked crazy. i think it's too much. drugs, i don't know. i think it's crazy. >> the gun apparently jammed, and the man took off empty handed. fortunately nobody was hurt. in an exclusive interview tonight, hillary clinton apologizing about that private e-mail server she used while secretary of state. >> what i had done was allowed, aboveboard, but in retrospect, as i look back, even though it was allowed, i should have used two accounts, one for personal, one for work related e-mails. that was a mistake. i'm sorry about that. i take responsibility.

>> late tonight clinton posted a similar apology to her supporters on facebook and twitter. well, you don't have to be a tennis fan to appreciate the emotional sisters showdown tonight at the u.s. open. the williams sisters playing each other again. sports anchor rob powers is here with the highlights and results. >> bill this was more than just the top seed against the 23rd seed. this was family. little sister serena williams on one side, venus williams on the other. serena in pursuit of tennis' grand slam. to make history she would have to beat venus. 14th match against one another in a major. serena had won eight. 27th meeting as pros. serena with the edge. she was strong in the first 70. 15 binners, only twown forced errors. broke serve twice, won the set 6-2. the second set, venus rallies. venus takes the second set 6-1.

they decided in the third, serena strong again, the ace for the win. the hug at center court. serena's quest for the grand slam alive and well. >> this is a big moment for both venus and i. we have a chance to be in the semifinals, and it's a grand slam so we want to do the best that we cap, very competitive. we're just trying to give each other a great match. >> a big night. it was a fun night. more on the match in sports as serena now moves to within two victories of the grand slam, bill. >> it was quite a match. rob, thank you. neighbor versus neighbor, and the fireworks fly. there was screaming, there was yelling, there was outrage. wait until you hear what made all these people so upset tonight. plus, along the lines at one of your favorite fast-food spots tomorrow it won't be

and yet another 90- this is a story about doers, the artificial heart, electric guitars and rockets to the moon. it's the story of america- land of the doers. doin' it. did it. done. doers built this country. the dams and the railroads. john henry was a steel drivin' man hmm, catchy.

and all this doin' takes energy -no matter who's doin'. there's all kinds of doin' up in here. or what they're doin'. what the heck's he doin? energy got us here. and it's our job to make sure there's enough to keep doers doin' the stuff doers do... to keep us all doin' what we do. a raucous and tension packed gathering in orange county, police telling people to sit down as lawmakers vote to turn over huge chunks of land to an ultra orthodox jewish group. here's carolina leid. >> reporter: it started with a march and protests through the streets of monroe township. followed by tense emotions just before the big meeting.

in favor of annexing 164 acres of land to the village. >> it's inch by inch. it has nothing to do with religion. and they keep bringing that up. >> this whole discussion this whole thing is definitely only has to do with hate against a group of people, and they're only trying to see how they can keep them defined in a certain area not to grow and not to expand. >> reporter: this is an ongoing turf war between the residents of the village and the town.

>> it's really not about a clash of culture. it's not about a clash of religion. this is about a corrupt government who is trying to take land, rural zoned land to create high-density housing. >> a mixed bag. we're saddened for those who didn't make it, but we're optimistic for those who d. >> reporter: some have questioned what this means for the school system but one thing is for sure, both sides are getting lawyers ready because both sides plan to sun. reporting in monroe, orange county, carolina leid, channel 7 eyewitness news. also new at 11:00, honors for more than 100 new york transit workers for their work terror attacks. mta workers were awarded medals from their union in brooklyn. officials say transit workers played a critical role transporting people to public safety, then

responders to ground zero. >> on september is 11th, 2001, we rose to a new level of unsung heroism, and we truly are and have been in the sung heroes of the attacks on the world trade center and the restoration of that site. >> many transit workers were among the thousands searching the rubble at ground zero. tonight chipotle plans to go on a hiring spree. the chain plans to open 200 new restaurants this year and needs to beef up its workforce. >> burrito business is booming. stay open late. melt the cheese. >> so hot out there. >> it really speaks to the dry thans we've had to allow temperatures to get this high.

tomorrow, and that should do it for the 90s. outside, the empire state building in yellow for international literacy day. humidity is fairly high, a west wind, a nice breeze, and a high, 97 scorching degrees today. so that 97 is the hottest day of the summer. previously it was july 29th at 96. the hottest september day since nineteen yee. only five degrees away from the all-time september is high of 102 set back in 195 3. murray hill is at 93. oak wood at 79. same thing for riverdale. hudson valley still toasty. 69 sussex. 76 in islip right now. as we go through the day hazy skies, some haze early, some high clouds. partial sunshine, a little bit more cloudiness tomorrow, then there's always stray storm threat. probably a better chance north and west.

we have to allow fort just because i'm watching radar. even though we don't have a lot of cloudiness there's some cloudiness and sprinkles building. that may stay off to our south and east. and then you have a little trough out ahead of the main front which could spark an isolated storm. but it is really this slug of moisture right here that will move in during the day on thursday. there can be scattered showers thursday, then more widespread during the afternoon hours. you see outside of that front it goes from 80s right here to 60s and 70s. so real relief after that front late thursday. here's the futurecast. look at the clouds, how they try to stream in. hazy skies, still very warm. then just a pop-up storm or two during the afternoon hours. still around 90 degrees, feeling like mid-90s. tomorrow night there can actually be a shower or storm at any time. so the storms actually start to come in tomorrow night. they're around thursday morning and look at these heavy

downpours at the jersey shore. possible flooding on thursday especially with the hard ground and the recent dryness. ponding and flooding is a possibility. one trend in the forecast is the rain moving out quickly on thursday evening allowing us to have drying on friday. hot and humid tomorrow, the showers and thunderstorms thursday held off slowly by that low, then leaving the scene friday. warm and humid, hazy sun, patchy clouds, 77 to start the day, up to 81 in tab. tomorrow night a shower or thunderstorm at any time. watch out for heavier downpours thursday. 93. early clouds friday should give way to sunshine. the 80-degree stretch ends over the weekend. rain sunday morning. becoming more confident that sunday might be okay. so the weekend not looking bad. bill evans will have an important update tomorrow morning. >> thank you, lee. up next, startling

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nearly one in six have diagnosed diabetes. nearly a third are unaware of their condition. the same study showed that half of asian americans with diabetes don't know they have it. >> need to get checked out. a frightening close call as an elephant crashes a brunch. it happened in zimbabwe as tourists from california were eating. the elephant showed up and appeared to just be grazing, then it suddenly rushed toward the tourists. officials say the elephant has poor eyesight and was likely startled. >> unless the elephant had reservations first and was just a little angry about it. >> the last place i would be is watching him coming at me. straight ahead, the mets go head to head with the nationals on the road.

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some great games in new york tonight. one of them was the mets. story. all the talk has been about meaningful games but the only meaningful game matt harvey could play today was against the nationals. fans want to count on him with no limits. win tonight over the nats would give the mets a first place lead. 24 to play. harvey falls behind. david wright helps him out 2nd inning, cuts that lead in half. harvey didn't help himself here in the 6th. can't make a clean play. nats load the bases. michael taylor drives one that's going to scoot past cespedes. it didn't look good but you have to remember washington been playing awful, and cespedes has been unreal.

the mets load the bases in the 7th. he brings everybody home, makes at one-run game. lucas duda, just off the d.l., walks with the bases loaded. six walks and a wild pitch. so there's your ball game. they can sweep with another win tomorrow. to the yankees now in their own pennant race at home against the orioles. tanaka gave up six hits, only one run. leadoff home run, 6th inning, the yankees are down. alex rodriguez brings him back. his 30th home run of the year. tanaka comes out. chris davis leads off with his 41st home run of the season, and the yankees lose 2-1.

at boston tonight the game goes to extra innings and the jays scored four times in the 10th. 5-1, they win, so the yankees now down a game and a half in the standings. we showed you earlier in the newscast all eyes at the u.s. open on the women's quarterfinal match, an all- williams match. serena has had this pattern of not playing great in grand slam events but still winning. that was the story again tonight against her sister. her 11th three-set in majors this year. rallied in the third. serena beats venus, now two wins away from the grand slam. official game week preparations begin tomorrow for the jets and the giants. jason pierre-paul is probably back home in florida by now. he left town after the giants' doctors finally got a look at his hand. apparently he is not football ready. had that finger amputated.

finally from us, a foxborough friendly. the u.s. men's national team against brazil. when you play bra silt's always big. the u.s. made it clear there's work to be done before the big match with mexico next weekend. the u.s. loses tonight, a big

want to talk to us? join the conversation on facebook, twitter, or instagram using the hashtag abc7ny. >> i'm bill ritter.