By Online Desk
MUMBAI: A plane carrying more than 300 passengers, mostly Indians, grounded in France for four days over landed in Mumbai in the early hours of December 26, three days after it was detained by French authorities over suspected human trafficking, a source said.
The aircraft, an Airbus A340, landed in Mumbai shortly after 4 a.m., the official said. It had taken off from Vatry airport near Paris around 2:30 p.m. local time.
The Nicaragua-bound flight that had taken off from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates with 303 passengers was grounded at Vatry airport, 150 kilometres east of Paris, on Thursday over suspected “human trafficking”.
On Sunday, four French judges questioned the detained passengers.
The hearings were conducted as part of the investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office on the suspicion of human trafficking. According to the French media, some of the passengers spoke Hindi and others Tamil.
After authorising the plane to leave, the French judges on Sunday chose to cancel the hearings of the passengers due to irregularities in the procedure. The plane includes 11 unaccompanied minors.
