Plane crash in Libya kills over 100 (Fourth Lead)

TRIPOLI/CAIRO - More than 100 people died when a Libyan aircraft on its way from South Africa crashed in Tripoli Wednesday, officials said.

A nine-year-old Dutch boy was the only survivor of the crash.

The Airbus 330 belonging to the state-owned Afriqiyah Airways was on a regular flight from Johannesburg when it crashed on its landing approach to the Libyan capital’s international airport.

Some 93 passengers and 11 crew were on board the plane, many of them Dutch.

The Dutch Travel and Transport Association ANWB said at least 61 Dutch nationals died. Other reports listed 22 Libyans as well as British and South African nationals among the victims.

Many were transit passengers on their way to Europe via Libya.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said he was shocked at the news coming out of Tripoli, and expressed his government’s sympathy for relatives of the victims.

Dutch embassy officials in Libya were at the scene, gathering information and providing assistance, the premier said.

The Libyan state-run news agency said 96 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage.

The injured boy was taken to the al-Sabia hospital in Tripoli, where his condition was said to be stable.

Libyan Transport Minister Mohammed Zidane ruled out a terrorist attack as the cause of the crash.

“We definitely exclude the theory that the crash would be the result of a terrorist act,” he told a news conference.

Plane-maker Airbus said it would provide full technical assistance to the authorities responsible for the investigation into the accident.