A plane stuck for days in France for a human trafficking investigation is leaving for India
ABC News
A charter plane grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation is scheduled to leave Monday for India
VATRY, France -- A charter plane grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation is scheduled to leave Monday for India, after an exceptional holiday ordeal that left some 300 Indians en route for Central America blocked inside a rural French airport for four days. A lawyer for the airline says most of the passengers will be aboard.
French authorities are still investigating the aim of the original flight, en route from the United Arab Emirates to Nicaragua, and two passengers have been detained. Prosecutors wouldn’t comment on what kind of human trafficking was alleged, or whether the passengers’ ultimate destination could have been the U.S., which has seen a surge in Indians crossing the Mexico-U.S. border this year.
French authorities worked through Christmas Eve and Christmas morning on formalities to allow passengers to leave the Vatry airfield in Champagne country, regional prosecutor Annick Browne told The Associated Press. The passengers include a 21-month-old child and 11 unaccompanied minors who were put under special administrative care.
The Legend Airlines A340 plane stopped Thursday for refueling in Vatry en route from Fujairah airport for Managua, Nicaragua, and was grounded by police based on an anonymous tip that it could be carrying trafficking victims.
The airport was requisitioned by police for days, and then turned into a makeshift courtroom Sunday as judges, lawyers and interpreters filled the terminal to carry out emergency hearings to determine next steps.
