NEW DELHI/PARIS: A Nicaragua-bound flight carrying 303 passengers, mostly Indians, was allowed to resume its journey on Monday three days after they were detained by the French authorities at an airport near Paris over suspected human trafficking, according to local media reports on Sunday.
After authorising the A340 aircraft, operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines, to leave, the French judges chose to cancel the hearings of the over 300 passengers due to irregularities in the procedure, BFM TV, a French news broadcast television and radio network, reported.
The plane is expected to take off again on Monday morning. Its destination is not yet known. It could travel to India, where the passengers are from, to Nicaragua, its original destination, or to Dubai, from where it took off, reports said.
Four French judges earlier in the day began questioning the passengers detained by the French authorities at Vatry airport, 150 km east of Paris, since Thursday over suspected “human trafficking.”Most of the 303 passengers are reportedly from Punjab, a few of them might have even sought asylum in France. As per law they cannot be confined to the airport for more than 96 hours (4 days).
“Most of these passengers, which include minors (in the age group 21 months to 17 years) are from Punjab. Some have sought asylum during their interrogation, while passports of some have been kept by the French authorities,’’ said a source.
Four judges, four lawyers and four clerks reportedly took part in the proceedings with the help of translators.Representatives of the Indian mission in Paris are stationed at Vatry to facilitate these passengers.