World News | France Grounds Flight Carrying Indian Passengers on Suspicion of Human Trafficking

Paris, Dec 22 (AP) French authorities grounded a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Nicaragua carrying 303 Indian passengers after receiving a tip that it could be carrying victims of human trafficking, prosecutors said on Friday.

Special investigators are questioning all those aboard and two people are in custody pending further examination, the Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement.

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It said an anonymous tip signalled that the flight, operated by Romania-based charter company Legend Airlines, was carrying people who could be victims of human trafficking. It was grounded Thursday after it stopped for refuelling in the city of Vatry east of Paris.

The passengers initially remained in the A340 plane but were then transferred into the main hall of the small Vatry airport, where cots were set up for them to stay overnight, the administration for the Marne region said.

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Investigators from a specialised French organised crime unit, border police and aviation gendarmes are working on the case.

Legend Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.(AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)