A Dutch child miraculously survived the devastating air crash in Tripoli on Wednesday.

He was the only survivor on the plane, which was carrying 104 people from nine countries.

He underwent urgent surgery for broken legs and a head injury.

On Wednesday night, CNN identified him as eight-year-old Ruben van Ashout, and a Dutch website reported that he was travelling with his parents and an 11-year-old sibling.

Reports said he was in intensive care but his injuries were described as “not life-threatening”.

They said his condition was stable. The nine-month-old Afriqiyah Airways A330-200 Airbus went down at Tripoli Airport after taking off from OR Tambo International.

Witnesses, according to reports, said it appeared to start disintegrating before it hit the ground and exploded.

On Wednesday, officials were searching for clues to determine what had caused the crash, and reports indicated that the plane’s two flight data recorders had been found.

The Airbus A330-200, which had been in service since September, was flying from Joburg to the Libyan capital when it crashed just short of the Tripoli Airport runway at about 6am on Wednesday morning, the airline and planemaker said.

At least 61 of the passengers were reported to be Dutch citizens.

Twenty-two, including the crew, were reported to be Libyans. Others included citizens of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Germany, the Philippines and UK.

The Dutch were tourists on package tours. While no official passenger list had been released by late last night, The Star has established the identities of nine of the South African passengers: Norbert Taferner, his wife Paula, Cathrine Tillett, Frans Dreyer, Anton Matthee, Bridgid Bree O’Mara, Robert Edward Webber, Nigel Peters and Hans Wolfaardt.

They are among the 103 people who were killed instantly.

Unconfirmed reports said two more South Africans were killed, one of them a cousin of photographer Mark Burns.

Source: The Star online