A British passenger plane of Boeing 757 owned by BMI company was on Wednesday forced to land at the Nouakchott international airport, security sources told Xinhua.

The pilot noticed that one of the plane's engines had caught fire and immediately contacted the airport's control tower to allow him to land in the Mauritanian capital within few minutes.

The plane which was coming from Freetown and destined to London was carrying 108 passengers most of whom were Africans.

No human life was lost in the incident and the fire was put off by the airport's fire fighters.