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How did a boy of ten survive Libyan plane crash horror that killed 103, including two Britons?
By David Williams | 13 May 2010
- Al Afriqiyah Flight 8U771 from Johannesburg was due to stop in Tripoli
- Two Britons on board flight, says airline
- Seven passengers had been due to connect to another flight to Gatwick
- Flight 'exploded and disintegrated' just one metre from runway
- Dutch boy miraculously survives after he is flung from wreckage
Incredibly he was flung clear as the plane disintegrated just a metre from touchdown.
The Dutch boy was picked from the wreckage of the Libyan-owned Airbus A330-200 at Tripoli airport. Doctors operated on him for four hours last night.
His legs were broken in several places and he is still unable to move parts of his body. It is believed that his brain may have been bruised during the crash.
When doctors asked him where he was from, he managed to dazedly mumble: 'Holland, Holland'.
He is thought to be only the 14th sole survivor of a major plane crash.
Lucky escape: The boy's face and some of his body appears bruised as he is looked after in the hospital
Libyan TV last night showed the Dutch boy, who is yet to be named, apparently conscious.
He appears to have been miraculously flung to safety from the wreckage
His parents both died in the crash.
‘It’s an absolute miracle that he got out,’ a source said. ‘He’s been rushed to hospital in Tripoli, but it’s hard to tell what kind of condition he’s in.
‘The plane crashed next to the runway. It was around a metre away.
'The body of the plane completely disintegrated, meaning most people would have died straight away.’
Grief: Left, a relative of one of those on board the flight on her way to speak to authorities in Johanessburg. Right, an Afriqiyah worker breaks down in tears at a press conference
The boy's incredible escape recalls that of 14-year-old Bahia Bakari, who was the only survivor when a Yemenia Air Airbus 310 crashed into the Indian Ocean last June, killing 152.
This morning Afriqiyah Airlways said that two Britons and an Irish citizen were among those killed when Flight 771 from Johannesburg, South Africa, exploded as it came in to land at the Libyan capital.
The pilot was said to have warned air traffic controllers of a problem as he approached the capital's airport.
Today the investigation into the cause of the crash has begun. The plane's black box flight data recorders have been recovered, and it is hoped the information on them will shed some light on what happened.
Explosion: The debris of the Afiqiyah Airways plane crash, which a ten-year-old boy miraculously survived
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