Dutch boy crash survivor could go home this weekend

Authorities said the Dutch boy who is the sole survivor of a plane crash in Libya may be flown home to the Netherlands as early as Saturday, offering a glimmer of hope as investigators began the daunting task of identifying bodies and determining the crash's cause. Rescuers found 9-year-old Ruben Van As souw s t i l l strapped in his seat and breathing in an area of desert sand strewn with the plane's debris. His father, mother and 11-yearold brother are believed to have been among the 103 people on b o a rd wh o we r e k i l l e d Wednesday when their flight from South Africa crashed short of the runway in Tripoli. One of the lead doctors treating the boy said he could return home as early as Saturday. "The situation is stable," said orthopedic specialist Sadig Bendala. "He's OK. He's not getting any worse. He's progressing quite well." The doctor said many factors could have played a role in his stunning survival, including where he was seated in the plane. "It's something from God, that he wanted him to live longer," Bendala said. The Dutch Foreign Ministry instructed the hospital to more tightly guard the boy's privacy after a Dutch newspaper managed to contact him through a phone call to one of the hospital staff. The newspaper said a doctor handed his mobile phone to the boy to let him talk to its reporter. That prompted the Dutch ambassador to order the hospital to be certain it is preventing anyone other than doctors and relatives from having any access to the boy. The child was recovering well after 4 1/2 hours of surgery to repair multiple fractures to his legs. His aunt and uncle rushed to Libya from the Netherlands and were visiting him in a hospital in Tripoli.