VATRY, France (AP) — About 300 Indian citizens en route to Central America were held at a French airport for a third day Saturday after a dramatic police operation sparked by a tip that the passengers on board might The authorities said they were victims of human trafficking.
There were also children and families on board. The local civil protection agency told regional broadcaster France-3 that the youngest passenger was a toddler of 21 months and that there were 13 unaccompanied minors among the children.
Local authorities hung white tarps over the high bay windows of the small Vatry airport in Champagne to ensure the privacy of passengers inside. An unmarked plane near the terminal appeared to be the plane that had been grounded since Thursday. Other flights were canceled or diverted as the airport became the center of a major human trafficking investigation.
The 15 crew members of the Legend Airlines charter flight – en route from Fujairah Airport in the United Arab Emirates to Managua, Nicaragua – were questioned and released, according to a lawyer for the Romania-based airline. She said they were deeply shocked by what happened.
A surreal holiday weekend scene has been playing out at Vatry Airport since Thursday. The flight was stopped to refuel and grounded by French police following an anonymous tip that it may have human trafficking victims on board, Paris prosecutors said. It said two people had been arrested and special investigators were questioning the other passengers.
The unusual and sudden investigation disrupted air traffic as police sealed off the airport and flights to and from the regional airport were disrupted, the Marne region administration said. The airfield is mainly used for charter and cargo flights.
According to a Marne administration official, police seized the passengers at the airport, where they spent two nights on cots while the investigation continued. The official said the passengers initially remained on the A340 plane, surrounded by police on the tarmac, but were then taken to the airport's main hall to sleep.
Rescue workers, Red Cross workers, a doctor and local volunteers were on site to address passengers' needs, including regular meals and medical care as well as access to toilets and showers, the administration said in a statement on Saturday. A special area of the terminal has been equipped for families.
Indian consular representatives visit regularly, the administration said. The Indian Embassy in France posted on X that embassy staff had been given consular access to the passengers. “We are investigating the situation and ensuring the well-being of the passengers,” it said.
Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko said the company denied any involvement in possible human trafficking and welcomed the news that the flight crew had been released after questioning as “good news for the airline.”
A “partner” company that chartered the plane was responsible for verifying each passenger's identity documents and provided the airline with the passengers' passport information 48 hours before the flight, Bakayoko told The Associated Press.
The customer had chartered several flights with Legend Airlines from Dubai to Nicaragua, and several other flights had already completed the journey without incident, she said. She did not want to name the customer and only said that it was not a European company.
The crew members, who consist of multiple nationalities, “are pretty traumatized,” she said. “They wrote me messages saying they wanted to see their families for Christmas.”
The U.S. government has classified Nicaragua as one of several countries that do not meet minimum standards to combat human trafficking.
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