A Libyan plane arriving from South Africa disintegrated on landing at Tripoli airport on Wednesday, killing 103 people but leaving an eight-year-old boy as the sole survivor, officials said.
Libyan Transport Minister Mohammed Ali Zidan would not say immediately what caused the Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330 to break up as it was landing about 6am (1400 AEST) but ruled out terrorism.
Libyan television showed teams of emergency workers sifting through the wreckage of the plane, which was scattered in a wide arc across the landing area.
"There were 104 people on board - 93 passengers and 11 crew members," Zidan told a media conference, adding the remains of 96 victims had already been recovered.
There was only one survivor, an eight-year-old Dutch boy, he said.
"His life is not in danger," Zidan said, adding that "the sole survivor" was in a Tripoli hospital.
The Dutch government said that "several dozen" Dutch nationals were on board the Libyan plane but had no information on the boy survivor.
"We have at this moment clear indications that there were several Dutch nationals on board the crashed" plane, foreign ministry spokesman Christoph Prommersberger told AFP.
"Our embassy in Tripoli has sent representatives to the airport to get more information and to assist any Dutch citizens who need to be helped."
Witnesses spoke of the plane inexplicably breaking up as it came down to land in clear weather.
"It exploded on landing and totally disintegrated," one security official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Bongani Sithole, an official of Afriqiyah Airways at Johannesburg airport, said the crash happened "one metre away from the runway".
Minister Zidan said no terrorism was involved.
"We have definitely ruled out the theory that the crash was the result of an act of terrorism," the minister said.
While the nationalities of the victims were yet to be assessed, he added, "I can say that there are Libyans, Africans and Europeans."
The airline listed 93 passengers and 11 crew members on board the flight 8U771 from Johannesburg.
The flight was reportedly due to fly on to London's Gatwick airport.
Authorities in Pretoria said they were trying to determine if any South Africans were among the dead.
"We have established consular emergency response and request South Africans who had relatives aboard that plane to call us so that we able to assist with repatriation of the remains and helping them get visas to Tripoli as soon as possible," foreign ministry spokesman Saul Molobi said.
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