Plane with Indian passengers detained in France takes off

A plane with close to 300 Indian passengers detained near Paris over suspicions of human trafficking took off Monday after being cleared for departure by French police.

The Airbus A340 carrying 303 Indians had been bound for Nicaragua when it was detained last Thursday at Vatry airport, east of Paris, where it had stopped for refueling.

It had arrived from Dubai and there was an anonymous tip-off that it was carrying potential victims of human trafficking.

Of the original passenger list, 276 were on the plane that took off just before 3:00 pm (1400 GMT).

Among the passengers staying behind were two people questioned by French police over suspected people trafficking, but a judicial source said they had now been released.

The others have sought asylum in France.

After questioning the passengers for two days, French prosecutors on Sunday gave the go-ahead for the plane to leave.

A source close to the inquiry told AFP that the Indians were likely workers in the United Arab Emirates who had been bound for Nicaragua as a jumping off spot for the United States or Canada.