Child sole survivor in Libyan plane crash

A Libyan aeroplane crashed at Tripoli airport on Wednesday morning, killing all but one of more than 100 people on board. The survivor was an eight-year-old Dutch boy. It is not yet clear what caused the accident.

Reuters

The Afriqiyah Airways flight from Johannesburg crashed after landing at about 6am (400hrs universal time). It crashed one metre from the runway at Tripoli airport.

South Africa's Foreign Ministry said a plane went missing en route from Johannesburg to Tripoli on Wednesday morning.

The airline has set up an information hotline. Itsays there were 104 people on board, 93 passengers and 11 crew members. The child who survived was rushed to hospital and is reported to be in a good condition.

The airline operates an Airbus fleet.

Libya's Transport Minister Mohammed Ali Zidan ruled out terrorism as the cause.

South Africa is checking if any of its nationals were on the flight.

"We are still trying to establish whether there were any South Africans on board," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saul Molobi said. "We have established consular emergency response and request South Africans who had relatives aboard that plane to call us so that we able to assist with repatriation of the remains and helping them get visas to Tripoli as soon as possible."