Mallorca Airport Closed after Fake Emergency Diverts Plane

Palma airport, on the Spanish holiday island of Mallorca, was closed for nearly four hours on Friday night when several passengers fled a plane that had made an emergency landing.

A flight from Casablanca to Istanbul had been perted to Palma de Mallorca due to an apparent medical emergency as one of the passengers was reported to have fallen unconscious due to diabetes.

When an ambulance arrived to take the allegedly ill passenger to the hospital, he and around 20 passengers fled the plane and ran onto the tarmac.

Authorities claim that the persion was a deliberate attempt to help people illegally enter Spain, according to the El Pais newspaper.

Media outlets reported that at least 11 people were arrested, including the passenger who raised the alarm. He was taken to the hospital and found to be medically fit. Later on, he was held on suspicion of "assisting in illegal immigration."

Investigators believe the remaining escapees managed to climb over the airport perimeter fence and disappear on the island.

Notably, Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands that sit in the Mediterranean off the eastern coast of mainland Spain.