Boy (10) sole survivor of Libya plane crash

A 10-year-old Dutch boy is believed to be the sole survivor of a plane crash in Tripoli which has killed more than 100 people.

This image from Libyan television shows a portion of the widely strewn debris field from the Afriqiyah's flight 771. The Libyan plane, carrying 104 people, crashed on landing at the airport in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Photo by AP.

Libyan state television showed footage of a large field scattered with small and large pieces of plane debris and dozens of police and rescue workers with surgical masks and gloves, some of them carrying at least one body away.

Others sifted through the wreckage - some of it still smoldering - including a flight recorder and green seats with television screens on them.

A large piece of the plane's tail bearing the Afriqiyah brightly colored logo on it was visible, and other parts of the plane were in shreds. There was also a burnt, smashed car.

The Airbus A330 arriving from Johannesburg, South Africa was coming in to land when it crashed at around 6am.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash, according to a statement by the airlines posted on its website.

"Afriqiyah Airways announces that our flight 771 had an accident during landing at Tripoli International airport," the statement said.

"At this moment, we have no information concerning possible casualties or survivors. Our information is that there were 93 passenger and 11 crew aboard. Authorities are conducting the search and rescue mission."

According to initial reports, the plane crashed as it neared the threshold of Tripoli International's main east-west runway, while preparing to touch down from the east.

Weather conditions over Tripoli's international airport were good, with 5km visibility, scattered clouds at 10,000 feet and winds of only 5kmh.

In Johannesburg, Afriqiyah's office said it was still trying to provide a breakdown of the nationality of passengers.

Afriqiyah Airways operate an all Airbus fleet. It started its operations with five leased planes and then signed a contract with the Airbus Company during the Paris Flight Exhibition in 2007 for the purchase of 11 new planes including five Airbus A-320 and six A-350 models in addition to the right to purchase four further types of the same plane.

It was founded in April 2001 and is fully owned by the Libyan government.