Child's plane crash survival 'truly a miracle' - top politician

The head of the European Parliament says a 10-year-old child has survived the crash of a Libyan airliner in Tripoli this evening (NZT).

Jerzy Buzek says he had been informed that about 100 people on board perished. He described the child's survival as "truly a miracle."

Libya's Transport Minister confirmed the Dutch child's survival, saying the 10-year-old was in good condition.

Mohamed Zidan told a news conference near the crash site at Tripoli airport that the child did not have life-threatening injuries.

The child is the sole survivor of the Airbus-330 crash which killed at least 103 people in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

Spokesmen for Libyan-owned Afriqiyah airlines said the plane crash landed at the airport in Tripoli around 6 a.m local time.

Airline's statement

"Afriqiyah Airways announce that our flight 8U771 had an accident during landing at Tripoli International airport," the airline said on its web site.

"At this moment we have no information concerning possible casualties or survivors. Our information is that there were 93 passengers and 11 crew aboard. The competent authorities are conducting the search and rescue mission."

The Guardian website reports the Airbus was enroute to London's Gatwick airport when it crashed.

There was no immediate indication of why the aircraft arriving from Johannesburg crashed.

Airbus 'totally disintegrated' - official

"It exploded on landing and totally disintegrated," a security official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

An AFP correspondent said the crash site had been sealed off by security officials and ambulances and emergency vehicles were seen rushing between the airport and the capital, about 50 kilometres apart.

The wreckage could be seen in the distance but no plumes of smoke were evident. Weather conditions were good at Tripoli on Wednesday morning, with only light clouds in the sky.

"I can confirm the crash but not the number of the dead," said Bongani Sithole, an official of the airline at Johannesburg airport. "We hear that it happened one metre away from the runway."

The crew members were all Libyan nationals, the official added.

The casualties included 22 Libyans, including passengers and crew, and the rest were of various nationalities, a Libyan official at the airport said.

Smouldering remains

Libyan state television showed footage of a large field scattered with small and large pieces of plane debris and dozens of police and rescue workers with surgical masks and gloves, some of them carrying at least one body away.

Others sifted through the wreckage - some of it still smouldering - including a flight recorder and green seats with television screens on them.

A large piece of the plane's tail bearing the Afriqiyah brightly colored logo on it was visible, and other parts of the plane were in shreds. There was also a burnt, smashed car.

Airbus 'fairly new'

Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from Johannesburg, said the plane was a "fairly new" Airbus.

"The airport in South Africa has not yet released details about the nationalities of the passengers," she said.

"People are still struggling to find out what actually happened."

Afriqiyah Airways said on its website that it operates an Airbus fleet.

According to AFP it started operations with five leased planes and signed a contract with Airbus at an exhibition in Paris in 2007 for the purchase of 11 new planes, the website said.

Airbus issued a statement confirming it had manufactured the plane involved in the crash. "Airbus will provide full technical assistance to the authorities responsible for the investigation into the accident," it said.

- NZ Herald staff, AP