Maltese authorities have identified the two Moroccan men who fled from the parked Turkish Airlines flight, TK619, after it made an emergency landing last week, as Fouad El Sallah, 26, and Mohamed Lazaar, 43, according to the Times of Malta.
The two men were part of a group of five Moroccan passengers who boarded the flight in Istanbul and plotted to divert the Marrakesh-bound aircraft to Malta by fabricating a medical emergency.
The Maltese news outlet mentioned that the search for the remaining two fugitives, El Sallah and Lazaar, has yet to yield any results. In this regard, Maltese authorities released on Thursday afternoon photos of the pair, asking the public for assistance in locating them.
However, it additionally reported that two men from the group were apprehended hours later and sent back to Morocco on Thursday morning aboard another flight with the same airline.
Citing police investigative sources, Maltese media also reported that the other Moroccan, who requested medical assistance and prompted the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Malta on New Year’s Eve, was also sent back to Morocco.
It argued that “the men who fled from the aircraft did not want to back home and thus one of them pretended to be in need of medical assistance for the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Malta.”
Media reports indicated that the Moroccans were among a group of around 20 people being deported from Turkey to Morocco.
For context, the escape occurred while the aircraft was still on the runway, prompting a swift security response.
The Maltese police were notified and immediately initiated a full-scale search, with the assistance of the country’s defense forces, focusing on the airport and surrounding areas.
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