Man dies after being sucked into plane engine at Italy airport
ROME (AFP)A man died after being sucked into the engine of a plane preparing to take off at Bergamo Airport in northern Italy Tuesday, an airport spokesperson told AFP.The victim, who was "neither a passenger nor an airport employee", forced his way onto the runway, where he was "pursued" in vain by airport security, according to the spokesperson for airport management company SACBO.According to Italy's Corriere della Sera daily, the man was a 35-year-old Italian. It said he burst into the airport, then used an emergency exit to rush onto the runway toward an aircraft preparing for take-off.Earlier in the day, Spanish airline Volotea wrote on social media that its flight from Bergamo to Asturias in Spain was involved in an "incident" at 10:35 am (0835 GMT)."One person not onboard and not affiliated with the company was seriously injured. All 154 passengers and six crew are safe," it said on X."We are doing everything possible to support the affected passengers and crew, providing them with psychological support, while working in close coordination with the Italian authorities."The plane was an Airbus A319, according to tracking website Flightradar24.
Flights were suspended at Bergamo Airport, Italy's third largest by passenger volume, following the incident, but resumed at midday, according to SACBO.
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Al Etihad
9 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Man dies after being sucked into plane engine at Italy airport
8 July 2025 20:12 ROME (AFP)A man died after being sucked into the engine of a plane preparing to take off at Bergamo Airport in northern Italy Tuesday, an airport spokesperson told victim, who was "neither a passenger nor an airport employee", forced his way onto the runway, where he was "pursued" in vain by airport security, according to the spokesperson for airport management company to Italy's Corriere della Sera daily, the man was a 35-year-old Italian. It said he burst into the airport, then used an emergency exit to rush onto the runway toward an aircraft preparing for in the day, Spanish airline Volotea wrote on social media that its flight from Bergamo to Asturias in Spain was involved in an "incident" at 10:35 am (0835 GMT)."One person not onboard and not affiliated with the company was seriously injured. All 154 passengers and six crew are safe," it said on X."We are doing everything possible to support the affected passengers and crew, providing them with psychological support, while working in close coordination with the Italian authorities."The plane was an Airbus A319, according to tracking website Flightradar24. Flights were suspended at Bergamo Airport, Italy's third largest by passenger volume, following the incident, but resumed at midday, according to SACBO.
Middle East Eye
10 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Was it legal for France, Italy and Greece to let Netanyahu fly over their airspace?
France, Italy and Greece allowed the plane of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fly over their airspace en route to the United States on 7 July, raising questions about their obligations under international law. Netayahu was issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Gaza since October 2023. In February, Netanyahu made his first trip abroad since the warrant, flying over French, Italian and Greek airspace on the way to and returning from the US. The three states are parties to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the Hague-based court in 2002, and are under a legal obligation to arrest those wanted by the ICC. Then, in April, Netanyahu flew over France, Italy and Croatia during a trip from Hungary to the US. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The ICC is the only permanent international court that prosecutes individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It has 125 signatories, including all EU countries, though Hungary has officially begun the withdrawal process in protest against the warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant. They are accused of starvation of civilians as a method of war, wilfully causing great suffering, wilful killing, intentional attacks on a civilian population and extermination, among other charges. France and Italy previously claimed that Netanyahu might benefit from immunity granted to heads of states and governments under international law, an argument rejected by the ICC and leading immunity experts. But the use of airspace is another area of the law that has sparked discussion among international legal experts. Sovereignty and airspace According to Ben Saul, an international law professor and UN special rapporteur on protecting rights and freedoms while countering terrorism, the Rome Statute imposes an obligation on states parties to comply with requests for arrest and surrender of any wanted person 'found' on their territory. However, he told Middle East Eye, the statute 'does not specifically address the question of the overflight of a state'. Such an obligation is governed by general international law, which considers the airspace above a state's land territory as part of its sovereign territory, explained Saul, who is the Challis Chair of International Law, Sydney Law School. Could David Cameron be prosecuted for threatening the ICC? Read More » Just as a state has sovereignty over its territorial sea, it also has sovereignty over its 'territorial airspace', he added. France, Italy and Greece are states parties to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, a treaty that includes airspace as part of a state's territory upon which it exercises sovereignty. Sergey Vasiliev, a leading expert in international criminal law, told MEE that whereas ICC member states do not have the obligation "not to allow" Netanyahu's overflight, the interpretation of Article 89 (1) of the Rome Statute should take into account the fact that airspace is traditionally included within the notion of state territory. A French diplomatic source told Middle East Eye in April that Netanyahu's flight on 2 February had been 'authorised' to use French airspace, which they said was 'in full compliance with France's rights and obligations under international law'. 'The Rome Statute does not impose any obligation regarding the overflight of its territory by a state aircraft carrying a person subject to an arrest warrant,' the source said. It remains unclear whether other flights in April and July over French territory had also been pre-authorised. 'If [France, Italy and Greece] did not wish to put themselves in a situation where they would have to arrest Netanyahu, (potentially at the cost of aerial safety), they could avoid doing so by withholding authorisation to use their airspace and preventing the overflight,' said Vasiliev. 'Anything else falls short of good faith interpretation, in my view, and does not do justice to [the three states'] cooperation obligations vis-a-vis the ICC." Tokyo Convention Vasiliev, a professor of international law at the Open University of the Netherlands, noted that failing to take action against Netanyahu's overflight violates the duty to cooperate fully with the ICC's requests, in accordance with Article 86 of the Rome Statute. 'I seriously doubt France would have allowed overflight of, say, Vladimir Putin, if he were to request it,' the scholar told MEE. 'It is the Rome Statute which requires the arrest, and the Tokyo Convention then enables it to happen' - Ben Saul, Sydney Law School Vasiliev noted that Netanyahu appears to have avoided flight over ICC states where he would be at higher risk of being arrested in case of emergency landing. Meanwhile, Saul cited the Tokyo Convention of 1963, an international treaty that addresses offences and certain other acts committed on board aircraft, as another legal framework that is relevant in the interpretation of ICC states' obligations to arrest Netanyahu. 'Under the Tokyo Convention 1963, a state normally should not interfere in an aircraft in flight to exercise its criminal jurisdiction,' he told MEE. But there are exceptions for this provision under the same treaty, including where "the exercise of jurisdiction is necessary to ensure the observance of any obligation of such state under a multilateral international agreement". 'So the Rome Statute would be one such agreement, allowing a state to require an aircraft overflying its territory to land, in order to arrest a person on board,' Saul argued. Hungary decides to withdraw from ICC during Netanyahu visit Read More » Saul explained that the Tokyo Convention does not require the exercise of such jurisdiction, but permits it: 'It is the Rome Statute which requires the arrest, and the Tokyo Convention then enables it to happen.' In April, the Association of Jurists for the Respect of International Law (Jurdi), which brings together French jurists and experts to promote the application of international law in relation to Israel-Palestine, said the authorisation of Netanyahu's plane to use French airspace was illegal. In a letter to President Emmanuel Macron, Jurdi said that Paris likely committed a 'serious violation' of its international commitments if it pre-authorised access to its airspace. 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He said the flight was forced to take a longer path over US army bases to ensure it did not have to make an emergency landing over ICC members in Europe. MEE asked the Italian, French, Greek and Croatian foreign ministries for comment on use of their airspace, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Al Etihad
12 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Jota thought to have been driving before fatal crash
8 July 2025 18:09 MADRID (PA Media/dpa)Diogo Jota is thought to have been driving when he and his brother Andre Silva died in a car crash last week, Spanish police have Liverpool footballer and father-of-three was killed alongside his brother, also a footballer, after the Lamborghini they were travelling in burst into flames following a suspected tyre blowout last Thursday in Zamora, Spain.A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil of Zamora told the PA newsagency on Tuesday, that tests being carried out by its trafficdivision showed Jota was driving the car at the spokesperson added that the car was thought to be travellingabove the speed limit on the road, which local media report is 120kilometres per spokesperson said: "The expert report is being carried out andfinished, where among other things they are studying the marks(tread) left by one of the wheels of the vehicle."Everything also points to a possible high excess of speed over thepermitted speed of the road."All the tests carried out for the moment point to the fact that thedriver of the vehicle was Diogo Jota."The report has not yet been finalized but will be handed over to thecourt in the town of Puebla de Sanabria, of the aftermath of the crash showed debris scattered alongthe side of the road including what appeared to be charred parts ofthe family and fans gathered for the funeral of the brotherswhich took place in their native Portugal on long-term partner Rute Cardoso, whom he had married just 11 days before the accident, was in attendance, as were his parents.
