Airline confirms 104 people aboard crashed plane in Tripoli, child survives

2010-05-12 09:34:02 GMT2010-05-12 17:34:02 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

Photo shows the location of Tripoli, capital of Libya. A total of 105 people including 94 passengers and 11 crews were killed in an air crash on Wednesday at Tripoli airport, Al-Jazeera television reported. (Photo: Google Maps)

TUNIS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Afriqiyah Airways said in a statement there were 93 passengers and 11 crews aboard the plane, which crashed at Tripoli airport early Wednesday morning.

Some local media reports said that an eight-year-old Dutch boy miraculously survived the crash and was rushed to the hospital.

The airline's statement said that search and rescue work was underway, but did not give details about the casualties and survivors.

The Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330 was flying from Johannesburg to Tripoli when the accident took place at about 6:00 am (0400 GMT) . The plane, Flight 8U771, crashed during the process of landing, said the airport authorities.

The cause of the crash was not clear, the airport authorities said, adding that the weather conditions were good at Tripoli on Wednesday morning. The plane exploded while landing and disintegrated.

TV footage showed that the wreckage could be seen at the airport but no smoke was visible.

The company was founded in April 2001 and ran a fleet of Airbus planes.

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