And many criticised the passengers for daring to be so happy in their selfie in light of this sad news.
While many were in awe of their survival story, the selfie also attracted a fair amount of criticism.
Meanwhile, in a popular Facebook aviation group, a commenter wrote “unbelievable”, while another said “bad taste selfie”.
A third commented: “Nothing to be proud of, firefighters died”, to which a fourth agreed: “Two firefighters die but sure, take a selfie and laugh”.
While another said: “I mean it is selfie of the year … they walked away from that.”
However, others defended the passengers.
“I get it, they are happy because they are alive,” one wrote. “People are just taking it the wrong way and getting offended for anything these days.
“Think about it, you realised you’ve just survived an aeroplane crash, then suddenly it catches fire, and on top of it you are able to walk away from it unscratched? I’d be the happiest and most thankful person alive!”
While another said: “In the moment they took the picture, only a few people knew that two firefighters had died. They thought it was a problem with the aeroplane.
“Media took, at least, an hour and a half to report what really happened. Even firefighters from Lima didn’t know for the first hour. They just felt thankful for being alive.”
There were 102 passengers on-board at the time, but no passengers or crew lost their lives in the incident.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but Jorge Chavez International Airport said they were “conducting all the necessary investigations”.
Footage taken by witnesses and broadcast by Peruvian television channels showed the plane – an Airbus A320, according to aircraft tracking websites – taking off at full speed and hitting the fire truck, also travelling at speed.
With its landing gear damaged, the plane continued its course with its right side dragging along the runway, sending up a trail of sparks. When it stopped, the aircraft emitted a cloud of smoke, with the rear of the plane badly burned.
As well as killing the two firefighters, the incident injured a rescuer who was in the firefighting vehicle and is “in critical condition due to head trauma,” according to security official Aurelio Orellana.
The general manager of Latam Peru, Manuel van Oordt, said he was surprised that firefighters were on the runway since the pilot of the plane had not reported any anomalies.
“No emergency was reported in the flight, it was a flight that was in optimal conditions to take off, he had permission to take off, and he found a truck on the runway and we do not know what this truck was doing there,” he said at a press conference.
