Spanish police search for migrants who fled diverted plane

Spanish police are still searching for migrants who took part in a chaotic escape from an aeroplane after it made an unscheduled landing on the island of Mallorca on Friday night.

The Air Arabia Maroc flight had been due to travel from Casablanca to Istanbul, but was diverted to Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands, after one of the passengers appeared to suffer a diabetes-related medical problem. On landing at Palma airport, a vehicle approached in order to allow medical staff on board. When a ladder had been connected to the plane, more than 20 passengers suddenly tried to get off.

Footage posted by another passenger on social media showed several men jostling to get off and others running across the airstrip. According to reports, many of them scaled the perimeter fence.

“It seems that a plane has landed and there could be passengers from the flight walking around the airstrip and surroundings,” said a post on the Spanish air controllers’ Twitter site as the incident unfolded.

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The airport closed down for several hours, disrupting about 40 flights.

Ten of those who fled were caught and arrested on Friday in Marratxí, about 4km from the airport, and another man who did not manage to escape from the aircraft was also arrested. The passenger who had caused the route diversion with a supposed medical complaint was given the all-clear by a local hospital and has been detained. According to reports, most of those involved were Moroccan although at least one of those detained was Palestinian.

Those arrested face charges related to public disorder and violating immigration laws.

The police were still looking for 12 people on Monday.

Although the Balearic government initially said there was no evidence to show it was a planned operation, such a possibility had not been ruled out. The Spanish police are reported to have discovered a Facebook post published in July on an account followed by thousands of young Moroccans in which a plan to divert a Turkey-bound flight to Spain, in order to get into the country, is mentioned.

The episode, which comes as Spain's tourism industry is trying to recover from the impact of Covid-19, has also drawn a political response. While the Balearic regional president, Francina Armengol of the Socialist Party, called for a review of procedures to ensure the safety of local inhabitants and visitors, the opposition warned that this was a new way for migrants to enter the country illegally, with several sea routes from Africa to Spain already well established. So far this year, more than 2,000 migrants have reached the Balearic Islands by crossing the Mediterranean, with many others dying during the trip.

Marga Prohens, of the conservative Popular Party, said the Palma airport incident had happened while the leftist coalition government of Pedro Sánchez had been “looking the other way” on the issue of migration.