Mumbai: A flock of as many as 36 flamingos were found dead at different locations in Mumbai's Ghatkopar area. As per reports, the migratory birds died after being hit by a Mumbai-Dubai Emirates flight  late Monday night over the Laxmi Nagar area of Pantnagar. 

The Emirates flight, EK 508, carrying 310 passengers reported a bird hit on arrival at 9.18pm as it suffered major damages. However, the aircraft landed safely at Mumbai airport, and is currently grounded there. The return flight - bound for Dubai - was cancelled late last evening, showed Flightradar24, the plane tracking website that displays real-time commercial flight tracking information on a map.

Various calls were received from people about the dead birds spotted at some places in Ghatkopar, said Pawan Sharma, founder of the Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) and honorary wildlife warden with the forest department.

The forest department's mangrove cell along with the RAWW teams during a search operation found 29 dead flamingos in the area on Monday night, he said. The carcasses were sent for an autopsy to find out the exact cause of the death, he added.

The wetlands along the Mumbai and Navi Mumbai coast are renowned habitats for flamingos. These migratory birds arrive around December and remain visible until March or April.