The Palma de Mallorca police arrested on Saturday, November 6 eleven people who fled from a plane that had landed in an emergency the day before at the city’s airport, one of the busiest in Spain, which caused many disturbances.
The plane, which was on a flight between Morocco and Turkey, was diverted at 7 p.m. Friday to Palma de Mallorca due to the supposed discomfort of a passenger, reported the civil guard. During the evacuation of the supposedly ill traveler, around 20 passengers took the opportunity to run away from the plane on the tarmac.
The police and the civil guard immediately began searching the airport, paralyzing its activities, which could not resume until around midnight after a four-hour hiatus, according to the Spanish airport authorities. According to the daily El Pais, investigators are working on the hypothesis of a set-up in order to enter Spain illegally.
The sick passenger in perfect health
“For the time being, eleven people have been found by the police and the Guardia Civil”, confirmed a spokesperson for the local government. At least nine other people were still at large, authorities said.
The passenger who had complained of discomfort was taken to hospital, where he was declared in perfect health and arrested by the police for “Assistance with illegal immigration and violation of the law on foreigners”, according to the newspaper. “He appeared to be in a diabetic coma and was taken by ambulance to hospital with a companion”, detailed the police in a statement. The person accompanying him fled as soon as he arrived at the hospital.
According to the FlightRadar24 website, the baffled aircraft was an Airbus A320 from Air Arabia Maroc, which was on a flight between Casablanca and Istanbul.
As a result of the incident, thirteen planes bound for Palma were rerouted to other airports, and sixteen departing flights suffered significant delays, according to airport authorities.