AFM soldiers would have put their lives at risk had they chased the men who escaped from the airport after jumping off a plane they had arrived on, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told Times of Malta.

“From the information I have, the situation was very dangerous even for the escapees who went onto the runway while an airplane was moving,” he said

“These people could have died. I think no one is asking the AFM to risk their lives in that way,” Camilleri said when asked if he thought the Armed Forces of Malta were to blame for what happened.

On New Year’s Day, four men jumped out of a Turkish Airlines plane that had just made an emergency landing at Malta International Airport, managing to escape from the airport.

While preparations were under way to get an allegedly sick passenger off the plane, four Moroccan nationals went to the rear of the plane, opened the door and jumped to the ground.

Airport CCTV footage showed the four men jumping over the perimeter fence.

Two of the men were subsequently arrested and deported, while two Moroccan men, Fouad el Sellah, 26, and Mohamed Lazaar, 43, remain at large.

Camilleri said that an internal investigation by the Aviation Security Department into the incident is under way.

“Just like most airports in Europe, security measures are geared towards stopping people from entering the airport rather than stopping people from getting out,” he said.

Airport CEO Alan Borg said the MIA followed all established procedures in cases when there are emergency landings.

“Although we are responsible for the overall operations of the airport, there are a number of stakeholders that have joint responsibilities with us,” he said, including state entities.

He explained that in the case of a medical emergency landing, MIA’s responsibility is to inform immigration, the police and AFM so they can be present when the aircraft lands.

“From our perspective, as long as our internal procedures were kept making sure that all the stakeholders within the airport were aware and present when this episode happened, there’s no further study, inquiry, or investigation that needs to be done. This is something that the state needs to take further.”

He said MIA did what needed to be done.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party yesterday accused the government of “gambling” with the country’s security and criticised its silence on two Moroccan men who remain at large.

In a statement, the PN said the public had been left “without any explanation of what really happened” in the case of the escaped Moroccan nationals.

“It has now been 22 days and, to this day, the government has not uttered a single word about this case... no statement has been issued about what happened, and the public remains without any explanation of what really occurred,” it said.

The PN said Camilleri “has not even uploaded a post on Facebook to update us on the situation” while characterising him as appearing “not to be too bothered” by the incident.

The PN statement was signed by home affairs spokesperson Darren Carabott.