Spanish authorities investigate Facebook ad after 12 vanish during emergency landing
Spanish police are now investigating an incident in which twelve passengers ran away from a Turkey bound plane after it made an emergency landing in Mallorca.
An investigation is underway to determine whether the incident was staged. It is possible that migrants plotted the whole scheme as a means of entering Spain illegally.
Police in the country is investigating the potential migration law violation after 23 passengers tried to escape an Air Arabia flight, which on Friday had to make an emergency landing in Mallorca en route from Morocco to Turkey.
The plane was forced to land after a passenger onboard "fell into" a diabetic coma and requested medical attention.
As he was taken to the hospital, the man suddenly turned out to be in good health. The man, who faked his illness, was discharged from the hospital and detained on suspicion of encouraging immigration and violating Spanish immigration laws.
Other passengers apparently took advantage of the situation and fled from the plane.
Initially, the police believed that the whole incident was a result of "improvisation and opportunity" until they found a Facebook post from July, offering people the to participate in a plan that closely resembled what happened on Friday.
The author of the post, which has since been deleted, looked for 40 people for a "plan" that involved faking an illness to land an emergency aircraft in Spain. As part of the plan, one person was responsible for handling the GPS so that timing was accurate. Other people would actively demand that the "sick" person get help if a captain refused to land on an emergency basis.
El Pais, a Spanish daily reported that the Arabic-language ad was viewed more than 6,500 times before it was deleted.
Spanish authorities now suspect that they might have been the victims of a clever ruse plotted by a group of would-be migrants, looking for a way into the country.
Authorities are continuing to question the detained passengers, although no "obvious and identifiable" relationship between the detainees has yet been established.
In a video that has been circulating on social media, several people can be seen running across the tarmac and through the cabin of a plane. The video has since been verified by the police as authentic.
The police have detained eleven of the would-be escapee passengers. Twelve more, including a person with the man who was pretending to be sick, disappeared without a trace.
Those arrested will appear in court on Monday and face deportation back to their home countries. Searches continue by the Civil Guard and the national police for the remaining twelve passengers, who are still on the run.
VIDEO Great escape: Spanish authorities investigate suspicious Facebook ad after 12 vanish during emergency landing, World News | wionews.com
