3 replies to this topic

[Nicole]

A Libyan plane arriving from South Africa crashed on Wednesday at Tripoli airport killing all 105 people on board, a security official told AFP. Among the dead were 94 passengers and 11 crew members, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

There was no immediate indication of the cause of the crash, which occurred as the Afriqiyah Airways plane was landing after a flight from Johannesburg at around 6:00 am (04H00 GMT). "All 94 passengers and 11 crew members who were on board were killed," the official said.

Afriqiyah Airways said on its website that it operates an Airbus fleet. It started operations with five leased planes and signed a contract with Airbus at an exhibition in Paris in 2007 for the purchase of 11 new planes, the website said.

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[Nicole]

Dutch child believed to be sole survivor after Afriqiyah Airways plane crashes at Tripoli airport en route to London Gatwick

A Dutch child is believed to be the only survivor of a plane crash in which more than than 100 people have been killed. The plane crashed as it landed in Libya en route to London's Gatwick airport. The Foreign Office is investigating reports that British people are among the dead.

The Airbus A330-200 operated by the Libyan airline Afriqiyah crashed while approaching Tripoli airport, according to reports.

The plane was arriving from Johannesburg. The passengers were of various nationalities thought to include British and South African.


Libyan TV footage of the crash site showed wreckage spread over a wide area of scrub land. Rescue workers and officials, many wearing face masks, were shown picking through the debris. Some were shown carrying a body in a sheet.

Jerzy Buzek, the head of the European parliament, said the child's survival was "truly a miracle".

Libya's transport minister, Mohamed Zidan, said the 10-year-old of Dutch nationality was in hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.


"All of the passengers and crew died except one child … there were 93 passengers and 11 crew on board," a Libyan security source told Reuters.

There were 22 Libyans, including passengers and crew.

Afriqiyah Airways said flight 8U771 crashed in Tripoli about 5am British time. "At this moment we have no information concerning possible casualties or survivors," the airline said in a statement.

A South African foreign ministry spokeswoman said the plane had left Johannesburg the previous evening and was registered as missing.

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[Admin]

That's sure one lucky little boy, let's hope he makes a full recovery

[Nicole]

It's amazing how anyone survived by looking at that wreckage, miracles do happen. Unfortunately the little boy will be orphaned and will probably be traumatised for the rest of his life, but he's alive and that's a real blessing.