The Turkish Airlines plane which took off from Istanbul last Wednesday was due to reach Marrakech. He was nevertheless diverted to Malta airport following a medical emergency probably staged by a group of five Moroccans. The plane had to request an emergency landing at Malta airport following the discomfort of one of the passengers of Moroccan nationality. While crew members retrieved the sick passenger’s suitcase, the four other Moroccans fled through the rear door of the plane, escaping onto the runway.
Read: Moroccans flee after emergency landing in Malta
Two of them were arrested a few hours later and deported to their country of origin, reports Times of Malta. Malta’s police and armed forces have launched a manhunt for the two Moroccan passengers, who are still at large. They were identified as Fouad el Sellah, 26, and Mohamed Lazaar, 43.
Read: Fatal malaise on board a Ryanair plane in Casablanca
This is not the first time such an incident has occurred at Malta Airport and other airports. In 2023, airport officials arrested two men who tried to escape after another Turkish Airlines flight, this time to Algiers, was diverted to Malta following a passenger’s illness. In 2022, a plane traveling from Casablanca to Istanbul had an emergency landing in Barcelona, after a woman claimed to be in labor. Nearly thirty passengers tried to flee the plane.
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