Dutch child is lone survivor of Libya plane crash that kills 105

A Libyan Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330 from South Africa disintegrated on landing at Tripoli airport, killing 105people, but leaving a Dutch child as the sole miracle survivor,on Wednesday.

Libyan transport minister Mohammed Ali Zidan said the survivor is in hospital. The Dutch foreign ministry said at The Hague that the child was undergoing surgery at the al-Sabia hospital for broken bones.

Afriqiyah Airways said 58 Dutch passengers, six South Africans, two Britons, two Libyans, two Austrians, one German, one French national and one Zimbabwean were on board.

The nationalities of 19 other passengers has not yet been confirmed but the airline said the 11 crew were all Libyan.

A statement on the airline's website said: "Afriqiyah Airways confirms as per the information received from the Libyan authorities the death of the 103 passengers on board flight 8U771 from Johannesburg to Tripoli May 12, 2010. Only one survived the accident (a Dutch child)."

The Foreign Office said Afriqiyah Airways Flight 8U771 from Johannesburg had been due to land at 0610 local time (0410 GMT) and the plane crashed close to the airport.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Libyan officials have informed us that Afriqiyah Flight 8U771 from Johannesburg crashed at Tripoli International Airport.

"Afriqiyah Airways have set up a helpline for those concerned about relatives."