Over 100 die in Libya plane crash (Third Lead)
By IANSWednesday, May 12, 2010
TRIPOLI/DUBAI - More than 100 people were killed when an Afriqiyah Airways plane with 104 passengers and crew crashed Wednesday in the Libyan capital Tripoli, media reports said.
The plane went down in the Tripoli airport, BBC quoted Libyan officials as saying. The airline said on its website that Flight 8U771 had an accident while landing at Tripoli.
“At this moment we have no information concerning possible casualties or survivors,” it said.
DPA adds: The Airbus 330 plane was on a regular flight from Johannesburg.
Initial reports had given the number of people on board as 105. The airline later put the figure at 104, including 93 passengers and 11 crew.
A Tripoli airport spokesman said there was one survivor, a nine-year-old Dutch boy.
Reports by journalists from the scene said the plane was completely destroyed. The plane went down about 100 metres away from the runway.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
