Dozens try to flee after woman 'fakes labour' to get plane to make emergency landing in Spain

The flight made a medical emergency landing at the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport in Barcelona.
The flight made a medical emergency landing at the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport in Barcelona. Copyright PAU BARRENA / AFP, FILE
By Euronews with AP
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Fourteen passengers are still on the run.

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Spanish police are searching for 12 people who fled a commercial plane after it made an emergency landing in Barcelona.

The flight from Morocco to Turkey landed at El Prat airport on Wednesday morning after a pregnant woman allegedly pretended to go into labour.

At least 27 people initially left the aircraft after it landed without authorisation and "tried to flee," officials said. Thirteen were stopped by police and two more were detained later on Wednesday.

Five of those detained agreed to re-board the flight, while the others were processed for illegal entry into Spain and are expected to be deported. Their nationalities have not been revealed.

The Pegasus Airlines flight had been travelling from Casablanca to Istanbul with 228 passengers on board.

The woman who was thought to be in labour has been detained on charges of public disorder after doctors determined that she was not about to give birth.

Last year, a similar incident occurred on another flight from Casablanca to Istanbul, when 12 people fled an aircraft on the Spanish islands of Mallorca.

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