must be a strange feeling to be the only survivor from plane crash while 100+ others are dead. lucky kid.
BREAKING NEWS
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 4 minutes ago
A jetliner carrying more than 100 people crashed as it attempted to land in Libya Wednesday, killing everyone on board except for a child, officials said.
Afriqiyah Airways said that 104 people were on board flight 771 from Johannesburg to Tripoli.
"All of the passengers and crew died except for one child," a Libyan security source told Reuters at Tripoli airport.
Story continues below ↓
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There were conflicting reports that the child was an eight- or 10-year-old boy from the Netherlands.
The president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, later said the child's survival was "truly a miracle."
The boy was being treated in hospital, Libya's transport minister, Mohamed Zidan, told a news conference near the crash site. His injuries were not life-threatening, Zidan added.
In a statement on its website, Afriqiyah Airways said the Airbus jet "had an accident during landing at Tripoli International airport at 6 a.m. Tripoli time (12 a.m. ET) Wednesday."
"Our information is that were 93 passenger and 11 crew aboard. The competent authorities are conducting the search and rescue mission," the statement added.
A Libyan security official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the plane "exploded on landing and totally disintegrated."
'Final attempt to land'
The Times newspaper in South Africa quoted an airline employee as saying: "All we can say right now is that the plane crash landed on its final attempt to land."
"I can confirm the crash but not the number of the dead," said Bongani Sithole, an official of the airline at Johannesburg airport, told Al Arabiya TV. "We hear that it happened one meter (yard) away from the runway."
Libyan TV via AP
This image from Libyan TV shows the flight data recorders from the Afriqiyah Airways flight 771 found amid the wreckage Wednesday.
Libyan state television showed footage of a large field scattered with small and large pieces of debris and dozens of police and rescue workers with surgical masks and gloves, some of them carrying bodies.
Others sifted through the wreckage — some of it still smoldering — including a flight recorder and green seats with television screens on them.
A large piece of the plane's tail bearing the Afriqiyah brightly colored logo on it was visible, and other parts of the plane were in shreds. A burnt, smashed car was also visible.
Weather conditions over Tripoli's international airport were good Wednesday, with three-mile visibility, scattered clouds at 10,000 feet and winds of only three miles per hour.
The BBC reported the plane had been due to continue on to Gatwick Airport near London after stopping in Tripoli.
Al-Jazeera TV said the plane was an Airbus A330 which had been bought by the airline in 2009. It reported that the flight was a regular service, going from South Africa every Tuesday and Wednesday.
A South African foreign ministry spokeswoman said the plane had left Johannesburg Tuesday evening and was registered as missing.
If the death toll is confirmed, the accident will be among the most serious plane crashes in the last three years.
Afriqiyah Airways was founded in April 2001 and at first was fully owned by the Libyan state, AFP said. The company’s capital was later divided into shares to be managed by the Libya-Africa Investment Portfolio.
The company's website says that the airline only flies modern Airbus 320–200, A319-111 & A330-200 planes.
European planemaker Airbus said in a statement on its website that it "regrets to confirm that an Airbus A330-200 operated by Afriqiyah Airways was involved in an accident."
"Airbus will provide full technical assistance to the authorities responsible for the investigation into the accident," the statement said.
BREAKING NEWS
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 4 minutes ago
A jetliner carrying more than 100 people crashed as it attempted to land in Libya Wednesday, killing everyone on board except for a child, officials said.
Afriqiyah Airways said that 104 people were on board flight 771 from Johannesburg to Tripoli.
"All of the passengers and crew died except for one child," a Libyan security source told Reuters at Tripoli airport.
Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here
There were conflicting reports that the child was an eight- or 10-year-old boy from the Netherlands.
The president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, later said the child's survival was "truly a miracle."
The boy was being treated in hospital, Libya's transport minister, Mohamed Zidan, told a news conference near the crash site. His injuries were not life-threatening, Zidan added.
In a statement on its website, Afriqiyah Airways said the Airbus jet "had an accident during landing at Tripoli International airport at 6 a.m. Tripoli time (12 a.m. ET) Wednesday."
"Our information is that were 93 passenger and 11 crew aboard. The competent authorities are conducting the search and rescue mission," the statement added.
A Libyan security official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the plane "exploded on landing and totally disintegrated."
'Final attempt to land'
The Times newspaper in South Africa quoted an airline employee as saying: "All we can say right now is that the plane crash landed on its final attempt to land."
"I can confirm the crash but not the number of the dead," said Bongani Sithole, an official of the airline at Johannesburg airport, told Al Arabiya TV. "We hear that it happened one meter (yard) away from the runway."
Libyan TV via AP
This image from Libyan TV shows the flight data recorders from the Afriqiyah Airways flight 771 found amid the wreckage Wednesday.
Libyan state television showed footage of a large field scattered with small and large pieces of debris and dozens of police and rescue workers with surgical masks and gloves, some of them carrying bodies.
Others sifted through the wreckage — some of it still smoldering — including a flight recorder and green seats with television screens on them.
A large piece of the plane's tail bearing the Afriqiyah brightly colored logo on it was visible, and other parts of the plane were in shreds. A burnt, smashed car was also visible.
Weather conditions over Tripoli's international airport were good Wednesday, with three-mile visibility, scattered clouds at 10,000 feet and winds of only three miles per hour.
The BBC reported the plane had been due to continue on to Gatwick Airport near London after stopping in Tripoli.
Al-Jazeera TV said the plane was an Airbus A330 which had been bought by the airline in 2009. It reported that the flight was a regular service, going from South Africa every Tuesday and Wednesday.
A South African foreign ministry spokeswoman said the plane had left Johannesburg Tuesday evening and was registered as missing.
If the death toll is confirmed, the accident will be among the most serious plane crashes in the last three years.
Afriqiyah Airways was founded in April 2001 and at first was fully owned by the Libyan state, AFP said. The company’s capital was later divided into shares to be managed by the Libya-Africa Investment Portfolio.
The company's website says that the airline only flies modern Airbus 320–200, A319-111 & A330-200 planes.
European planemaker Airbus said in a statement on its website that it "regrets to confirm that an Airbus A330-200 operated by Afriqiyah Airways was involved in an accident."
"Airbus will provide full technical assistance to the authorities responsible for the investigation into the accident," the statement said.
