Nine-year-old plane crash survivor has been told his family is no more

London, May 15 (ANI): The lone survivor of the Libyan plane crash that left 103 people dead, nine-year-old Dutch boy Ruben van Assouw has been informed that he is the only surviving member of his family.

The boy is reportedly coping well under the adverse circumstances.

"We have explained to Ruben exactly what happened," said a statement from the boy's aunt and uncle read out to media in Tripoli. "He knows that his parents and his brother are dead."

"The time ahead will be a difficult period for us," the statement said. "We hope that the media will respect our privacy," The Telegraph reports.

There has been an outpouring of support for the little boy who has lost his parents and brother in the crash. The Libyan Organization for Children is going out of its way to ensure that the boy is able to recover from the trauma. He is being treated at the Tripoli Hospital and is recuperating after surgery was performed on his smashed legs.

Earlier Ruben told a Dutch newspaper he was "fine" but could remember nothing of the crash.

"My name is Ruben and I am from Holland," he told the Telegraaf newspaper in a telephone conversation.

"I am fine, but my legs hurt a lot," the boy said.

"I am in a hospital," Ruben said. "I don't know how I got here, I on't know anything more. I really want to go home,"

The boy and his family were returning to Tripoli from a South African safari holiday, when they boarded the ill-fated Afriqiyah Airways flight that disintegrated upon landing on Wednesday. (ANI)