Before The Vatry Airport Incident, Another Flight Was Halted At Germany For 10-12 Hours

Two days before the flight that was grounded in France over the alleged human trafficking, a flight from Dubai to Nicaragua carrying 200 passengers were reported to be halted at an airport in Germany, as reported by Times of India. The flight was reported to have about 60 persons from Gujarat. 96 among the 303 Indians in the flight that was grounded by France were also from Gujarat.

The report said that same agents, who were involved in the Vatry airport arranged the charter for the flight which halted at Germany airport for about 10-12 hours. The Times of India quoted a source as saying that the people who were trying to reach US has first landed in Dubai from where they boarded a flight to Nicaragua. The flight then landed at a small airport in Germany, as the “human smugglers” avoided big airports in fear of legal actions. The passengers were said to rest in the lounge of the airport for 10-12 hours before the flight took off to Nicaragua airport.

As per the report, after landing in Nicaragua, the passengers took the help of “donkers” (operators who help people to cross border to reach US) to reach Honduras, a central American country). The report said, those who were illegally crossing the Nicaragua-Honduras also faced firing. It was not clear whether the firing was from the security forces of the region or from any other gang members. The sources told Times of India that the people who got to Honduras moved to Guatemala where they stayed for two days and then crossed to Mexico in two buses booked for them.

Earlier on December 21, France grounded a Nicaragua bound flight carrying 303 Indian passengers at Vatry airport. The passengers were held at the airport and was subjected to questioning in a make shift court room at the airport lounge. Later on December 24, the flight was allowed to take off to Mumbai. Out of the 303 passengers, only 276 landed in Mumbai, others stayed back at the airport.