Plane with Indian passengers grounded in France over trafficking concerns lands in Mumbai

Mumbai, December 26

A charter plane carrying 276 passengers, mostly Indians, grounded in France for four days over suspected human trafficking, landed in Mumbai in the wee hours of Tuesday, an official said.

The aircraft, an Airbus A340, landed in Mumbai shortly after 4 am, the official said. It had taken off from Vatry airport near Paris around 2.30 pm local time.

According to French authorities, the plane had 276 passengers on board when it took off for Mumbai, as 25 people, including two minors, had expressed the wish to apply for asylum and were still on French soil. Two others were held, produced before a judge and placed on assisted witness status, a French news channel said.

When the flight landed at Vatry airport, there were 11 unaccompanied minors among the 303 Indian passengers on board, a local official had said.

The flight, which was operated by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines and bound for Nicaragua, had landed at Vatry on Thursday for a technical stopover en route from Dubai when French police intervened.

French authorities launched a judicial investigation into the conditions and purpose of the trip, with a unit specialising in organised crime investigating suspected human trafficking.