BARCELONA – It all happened in the early hours of Wednesday morning when a plane with 228 passengers on board had to make an emergency landing at Barcelona’s El Prat airport.
A female passenger on the flight from Casablanca to Istanbul pretended to be in labour. As soon as the plane landed and the doors were opened to disembark the woman, and 28 migrants on board jumped onto the runway and tried to flee. With this action, they wanted to enter Spanish territory illegally.
The Guardia Civil intercepted 14 of the Moroccan migrants. Five of them re-boarded the plane after agreeing to continue their journey. The crew did not object to this. However, 14 Moroccan nationals managed to enter Spain illegally. The authorities are looking for them.
Public disorder
The woman was taken to Sant Joan de Déu hospital in Barcelona but no “signs of childbirth” were found. She was then discharged and arrested for an alleged crime of public disorder for allegedly pretending to give birth.
Everything suggests that we are dealing with a coordinated action in which the woman was used as bait. This was to allow 28 other people the chance to try and enter Spain without going through customs. Only swift police action allowed the five people to return to the plane shortly after running away from the runway. The others were apprehended minutes later.
Emergency landing
According to sources from the government delegation in Barcelona, the aircraft of Turkish carrier Pegasus Airlines on the Casablanca-Istanbul route rushed to El Prat airport (Barcelona) at around 4.30 am this morning to take care of the woman who claimed her membranes had broken. At 2am, just over an hour and 15 minutes after the flight took off, the airline’s pilot requested an emergency landing because a female passenger needed urgent medical attention. This happened at terminal 2.
The usual protocol was activated and two patrols from the Guardia Civil, one from the national police and medical services arrived on the runway.
Also read: Passengers run off after plane makes emergency landing in Spain
