A deadly plane crash in Libya on Wednesday morning has left 103 people dead. The sole survivor was a young boy. There has been some confusion over his identity, but Dutch newspapers indicate this morning that he is 9 year old Ruben van Assouw, a Dutch national. At least 61 of the casualties were also Dutch citizens returning from vacation in South Africa.
At least 96 bodies have been recovered from the wreckage so far according to Libya’s transport minister, Mohammed Ali Zaidan. Investigators are still on the scene, but have ruled out terrorism thus far.
The plane was an Airbus 330-200, the same model as the Air France plane that crashed into the Atlantic off the coast of Brazil last year according to ABC News. It belonged to a Libyan carrier, Afriqiyah Airways. The crash apparently occurred during landing around 6am local time. According to the airline’s website, “Every effort is being done to address any failure in our safety management system. At this moment we cannot speculate further.
Sole survivors of plane crashes are almost always children about Ruben’s age or crew members. This disproportionate survival rate is still something of a mystery to experts.
“I can’t figure out for the life of me why crew members and children tend to be disproportionate in these sole-survivor events,” Todd Curtis of the Airsafe.com Foundation told CNN.
Professor Ed Galea, director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group at the University of Greenwich, believes that being the right size is a big factor.
“With an adult with their head above the seat and legs on the floor, the chances are you’ll receive some sort of injury from debris landing on your head and legs flailing around. You’re more prone to broken limbs,” Galea told the BBC. “A youngster in their own seat . . . might be less likely to receive body injuries. They are more or less cocooned in a solid, rigid environment.”
Photo: Al-Fergany/AP
