Saudi Arabia's national football team has landed safely in Russia's Rostov-on-Don after an apparent birdstrike on the team's plane.
Russia's Rossiya airline, which was carrying the team from St Petersburg to Rostov-on-Don on Monday, said that the cause of a malfunction was likely a bird in the engine.
"As flight FV1007 from St Petersburg to Rostov-on-Don began to land, the (Airbus) A319 plane suffered a technical fault with one of its engines, with a bird getting caught seen as the preliminary cause," a Rossiya airlines spokesman said.
Reports that a fire occurred in one of the plane's engines were incorrect, the spokesman added.
"Nothing threatened the safety of the passengers. The aircraft's landing took place in a routine fashion. No warning was sounded during the landing at Rostov-on-Don airport," the spokesman said.
The team are due to play their second Group A match against Uruguay on Wednesday.
The Saudi federation released photographs of the players smiling and looking calm as they boarded a bus for the Mercure Hotel in central Rostov.
"All the Saudi national team players are safe, after a technical failure in one of the airplane engines ... and now they're heading to their residence safely," it said in a statement on Twitter.
The team, who are making their first appearance at the World Cup since 2006, suffered the biggest defeat in the tournament so far when they were thrashed 5-0 by hosts Russia in the opening game in Moscow on Thursday.
"I want to reassure you that we got to Rostov safely, it was a simple technical fault in the airplane but thank God we are now in the hotel and things are good," Osama Hawsawi, captain of the Saudi team, said in a video shared on social media.
"The whole delegation is well," midfielder Hattan Bahebri said in a video shared on the team's official Twitter page. "Of course, we were a bit frightened, but thank God," he added, laughing.