Flight grounded in France with 303 Indians over 'human trafficking' lands in Mumbai

A flight grounded in France with 300 Indians onboard over suspected human trafficking reached Mumbai on Tuesday morning with 276 passengers. Following the completion of legal formalities and clearance, Indian authorities in France thanked French officials for the “quick resolution of the situation”.

A Romanian aircraft, suspected of being involved in human trafficking, was stopped in France four days ago. It was carrying around 276 Indian people when it landed in Mumbai early on Tuesday. The flight returned to Mumbai after French authorities allowed the aircraft to resume its journey on Sunday. It had 303 passengers, but 27 of them decided to stay back in France.

The aircraft, which was flown by the Romanian airline Legend Airlines, took off on Monday at 2:30 pm local time and arrived in Mumbai at 4 am on Tuesday.

The aircraft was scheduled to take off on Monday morning, but it was delayed because several of the passengers allegedly refused to go back to India.

The 303 people on board the charter flight headed for Nicaragua were grounded at Vatry airport, 150 km east of Paris, on Thursday due to suspicions of "human trafficking." The flight had taken off from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The passengers included a 21-month-old child and 11 unaccompanied minors. The Indian Embassy in France thanked French authorities for resolving the matter and allowing the aircraft to fly back. 

"Thank French Gov and Vatry Airport for quick resolution of the situation enabling Indian passengers to return home & hospitality. Also for working closely with embassy team, present throughout at the site to ensure welfare and smooth & safe return. Thank agencies in India, too," the Embassy said in a post on X.