Paris (AP) – French officials are trying to establish whether a group of young French citizens were removed from an aircraft bound from Spain this week because they are Jews.
Airline, Wuling has denied claims.
On Wednesday, several dozen French passengers were dropped from the flight leaving the Spanish city. Valencia For Paris, the Spanish police and airline described as uncontrolled behavior.
The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday that the minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, contacted the Wuling CEO, Carolina Martinoli, CEO of Vuling, to express its deep concern about removing a group of young French Jews from one of the company’s flights. ,
Barrot “requested more information to determine whether these persons were discriminated against on their religion.”
A similar request has been made to the Spanish ambassador in France.
The ministry said, “Ms. Martinoli assured the Mr. Barrot that the internal investigation was going on and its findings would be shared with the French and Spanish officials.”
Wuling had earlier denied reports that the incident, including the removal of 44 minors and eight adults from flight V8166, belonged to the religion of passengers.
Some Israeli news outlets reported that students were Jews and their expulsion was religiously motivated, a claim that was repeated online by an Israeli minister. The Spain’s civil guard said that there were minors and adults French citizens. A spokesman for the Civil Guard said that the agents involved did not know about the religious affiliation of the group.
A wuling spokesperson said that the passengers were removed by the aircraft after repeatedly tampering with the emergency equipment of the aircraft and disrupted the security demonstration of the crew. A spokesperson for a civil guard said that the captain of the aircraft ordered the removal of minors from the aircraft at the Valencia’s Mancess Airport, when he repeatedly ignored the crew’s instructions.
On Thursday, the federation for the Jewish communities of Spain expressed concern about the incident. The group said wolling is required to provide documentary evidence of what happened on the aircraft.
The Associated Press
