Ruben, the “wonder boy” of the plane crash in Libya

Posted on May 14, 2010 by feldman

Plane crash in Libya has 1 survivor, Ruben. Ruben,  the 9 years old Dutchman child who miraculously survived the plane crash that killed 103 people yesterday in Libya, Tripoli, is hospitalized in “stable condition” according to a Libyan hospital official quoted by AFP.
“The child has been operated in the legs. Simple and double fractures ” said the doctor who has overseen the operations, interviewed by Libyan state television, which showed pictures of the little legs with plaster.
“He’s awake and his condition is stable but does not respond to requests from hospital staff who cared,” he added.
Two of his relatives have been able to visit this morning, as it has verified an AFP reporter at the scene.
The child is a native of Tilburg, a town south of the Netherlands, said the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who stated that ‘is pretty good. “He will be repatriated to the Netherlands’ as his health permits, “he added.
Ruben was returning from a safari in South Africa with his brother Enzo, 11, his mother Trudy, 41, and his father Patrick, 40, who celebrated their wedding anniversary, according to press reports in Holland. A Dutch newspaper discovered his full name: Ruben van Assouw.
Experts from the Bureau of research analysis and Airbus arrived yesterday afternoon in Tripoli to cooperate with the Libyan authorities in investigating the accident. According to international conventions, Libya should conduct the investigation,  being the country of the Libyan Al Afriqayia company, which constructed the machine. The chairman of the board of the airline, Sabri Chadi, said the preliminary report should be made public in the coming days, but “the final results will not be known for several days, even weeks.”
“It is too early to determine the causes of the accident. We need time before drawing conclusions, “he told Libyan television.
Libya yesterday ruled out the hypothesis of a terrorist act in the flight originated in Johannesburg.
Moreover, families of 61 dead Dutchmen, who are already in Tripoli, will start the identification of the bodies for repatriation, according to a diplomatic source in Holland today. “The company has facilitated the travel of families and their stay in Tripoli,” said the diplomat who wanted to keep himself anonymous.
Among the victims  there were also passengers from South Africa, Germany, Finland, France, UK.